According to state rankings issued by a domestic credit rating company, Maharashtra, India's richest province, is the best performer in the country, highlighting its strong position on financial and social indicators.
The rankings, released by CareEdge, the research arm of Care Ratings Ltd., also painted a positive picture of Gujarat, which boasted of robust economic growth and fiscal management, while Tamil Nadu, India's most industrialised state, ranked third with an edge in the social and governance categories. The rankings were determined by assessing performance on seven criteria: economic, fiscal, social, infrastructure, financial inclusion, environment, and governance.
"Maharashtra, the country's financial capital, tops the ranking with a good score not just in financial inclusion but also in state government finances and social metrics," CareEdge managing director and CEO Mehul Pandya stated. "The top states could serve as a model for others to follow."
While Maharashtra and Gujarat, located in the western part of the country, outperformed others primarily due to their economic strength, the survey showed that the eastern state of Odisha managed its expenses the best.
The states must improve their physical infrastructure, but the "bigger concern" would be to develop social infrastructure such as health and education, according to Rajani Sinha, the chief economist at CareEdge. "India is deficient in those sectors, and all states should improve their focus there," Sinha said.