Andhra Pradesh secured 9 th rank among the States with a score of 50.39 in the Export Preparedness Index - 2021 (EPI) released by NITI Aayog on Friday.
Gujarat secured the top position, followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu (TN), Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab (ranks 2 to 8). Telangana got the 10 th rank.
In the ‘Export Performance Pillar’, Andhra Pradesh was ranked next to Gujarat, which led the table. Among the coastal States, Andhra Pradesh stood in the fifth position, with Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu securing the 1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd and 4 th ranks respectively. A.P. achieved the 10 th rank in the ‘Export Ecosystem Pillar’.
Special Chief Secretary (Industries and Commerce) R. Karikal Valaven said in a press release that the steps taken to boost exports enabled the State to improve its rank from the 20 th in 2020 to 9 th in the EPI survey for 2021, and that the government’s endeavour was to double the exports by the year 2030 and account for 10% of the country’s exports.
The NITI Aayog observed that A.P. had significantly increased its score on the business environment front from 35.58 to 50.39.
Finance and Industries & Commerce Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy said he was happy with the State’s performance, and complimented the Industries Department for putting in its best efforts to make the State the leader in exports.
He quoted the NITI Aayog as saying that Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and A.P. would always dominate India’s overall export performance with a combined share of 54% in the national exports.
