New Delhi, Oct 17 (IANS): Karnataka has been ranked as the most innovative state in the country while the top ten states are concentrated mainly in southern and western India.

These rankings were released by the NITI Aayog on Thursday under the India Innovation Index 2019. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh form the remaining top ten major states respectively. The top ten major states are majorly concentrated in southern and western India.

Sikkim and Delhi take the top spots among the north - eastern & hill states, and union territories. Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh are the most efficient states in translating inputs into output.

According to the NITI Aayog, the study is an outcome of extensive research and analysis, which looks holistically at the innovation landscape of India by examining the innovation capabilities and performance of Indian states and union territories.

"The aim is to create a holistic tool which can be used by policymakers across the country to identify the challenges to be addressed and strengths to build on when designing the economic growth policies for their regions", it said in a statement.

Karnataka is the leader in the overall rankings in the category of major states. Karnataka's number one position in the overall ranking is partly attributed to its top rank in the performance dimension. It is also among the top performers in infrastructure, knowledge workers, knowledge output and business environment.

According to the NITI Aayog, the index shows that the innovation ecosystem of the country is strong in south and western parts of India. In fact, three of the top five major states are from southern India. Delhi and Haryana seem to be an exception to this rule and seem to be doing well on the Index. "Thus, there seems to be a west-south and north-east divide across the country", the index report said.

The index was released in the presence of Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science, Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology and Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, AYUSH.

Rajiv Kumar expressed hope that the India Innovation Index would create synergies between different stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem and India would shift to competitive good governance.

Amitabh Kant added that India has a unique opportunity among its myriad challenges to become the innovation leader in the world.