Karnataka tops Manufacturing Innovation Index, three southern states in top five

Karnataka has ranked first in the Indian Manufacturing Innovation Index (IMII) 2021-22, released by the Department of Science and Technology, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Out of five southern states, three figure among the top five, with Telangana at the third position and Tamil Nadu coming in fourth.

Kerala has obtained the 13th rank, whereas Andhra Pradesh has obtained the 22nd rank. Among the major states category, Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu have performed above the national norm, whereas Kerala has had average performance. Andhra Pradesh is in the low performing category.

The index measures performance on the basis of factors like innovation-conducive ecosystem in the state, investment, problems in financing, market, and businesses present. The report comes in the wake of India rising to the 40th rank out of 132 countries in the Global Innovation Index in 2022, which was a leap of 41 places in seven years, from the 81st rank in 2015.


Karnataka has an innovation score of 33.41, slightly ahead of Telangana which is at 32.86. However, Telangana had the higher share of innovative firms at 46.18%, compared to Karnataka's 39.1% out of the total manufacturing firms assessed in the state.

Additional Chief secretary of the state’s Information Technology and Biotech department EV Ramana Reddy said that the results will motivate Karnataka to do even better. “Karnataka has been at the top every year since 2019 in the national innovation index put out by the Niti Aayog. It's heartening that our state has topped the manufacturing innovation index too,” he added.