Best Performing State In India Is... New Report Uses 7 Criteria

Maharashtra is India's best performer, state rankings released by a domestic credit rating company showed, highlighting its robust position on finances and social indicators.

The rankings, released by CareEdge - research arm of Care Ratings Ltd. - also painted a favorable picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat that boasted of robust economic growth and fiscal management, while the most industrialized state of Tamil Nadu ranked third with an edge in social and governance categories.

"Maharashtra, the financial capital of the country, tops the ranking with a favorable score not just in financial inclusion but also for state government finances and social indicators," Mehul Pandya, managing director and CEO of CareEdge, said. "The leading states could offer the others a model to follow."

The rankings were arrived at by evaluating performances on seven parameters - economic, fiscal, social, infrastructure, financial inclusion, environment and governance. 

While Maharashtra and Gujarat trumped others mainly due to their economic might, Odisha managed its expenses the best, the report showed. 

The states must improve their physical infrastructure, but the "bigger concern" would be to develop social infrastructure such as health and education, said Rajani Sinha, chief economist at CareEdge. 

"India is lacking in those areas and all the states should improve their focus there," Sinha added.