# Gujarat tops NITI Aayog’s first Investment Friendliness Index 2026-08-13T07:06:05+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Gujarat has topped NITI Aayog’s inaugural Investment Friendliness Index 2026 with a score of 56.6, followed by Maharashtra at 53.7 and Tamil Nadu at 53.3. Goa (53.1) and Odisha (52.4) complete the top five performers. The index, released on July 17, covers all 28 states and eight Union Territories, using 84 indicators across eight pillars including infrastructure, regulatory ease, fiscal health and environmental resilience. Economictimes reports the index shifts the focus from investment summits and MoUs to ground conditions like land availability, electricity reliability and approval timelines. NITI Aayog notes India needs average real GDP growth of about 7.8% over two decades to become a high-income economy by 2047, making state-level investment competitiveness critical. ## Coverage - government.economictimes.indiatimes.com Tags: Gujarat, Investment Friendliness Index, NITI Aayog, regulatory ease, state competition, Viksit Bharat Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/gujarat-tops-niti-aayogs-first-investment-friendliness-index/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/gujarat-tops-niti-aayogs-first-investment-friendliness-index/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.