Arunachal Pradesh has been ranked as the Best Performer along with Gujarat and Goa in the States’ Startup Ranking Framework (SRF 5.0), results of which was declared today by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) coinciding with National Startup Day.
Manipur, Meghalaya, and Nagaland featured as ‘Leaders’ while Assam, Mizoram and Tripura have been adjudged as ‘ Aspiring Leaders’ in the ranking.
The States’ Startup Ranking Framework serves as a practical policy and governance tool to assess how effectively States and Union Territories are enabling startup growth on the ground. By encouraging both healthy competition and collaboration among state governments, the framework supports the development of strong, well-functioning startup ecosystems across the country.
The fifth edition of the States’ Startup Ranking Framework builds on lessons from previous editions and places greater emphasis on measurable outcomes, long-term sustainability, and the resilience of startup ecosystems. States and Union Territories are evaluated across six reform areas and nineteen clearly defined action points, covering policy and institutional support, physical and digital infrastructure, access to funding, market access and linkages, capacity building for entrepreneurs and ecosystem stakeholders, and innovation-led growth. Participation from 34 States and Union Territories in the current edition reflects a shared national commitment to improving implementation, strengthening ecosystem maturity, and enabling startups to grow and scale across regions.
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, while addressing an event to mark National Startup Day in New Delhi, said that startups are now present in every corner of the country, with nearly 50 per cent originating from Tier-II and Tier-III cities, demonstrating that the startup revolution has truly become an Indian movement. He cited the North Eastern region as a prime example, noting the commendable work of startups in Sikkim and the collaboration between tea cultivators and youth in Assam to introduce modern farming techniques. In southern India, he said Andhra Pradesh is emerging as the drone capital of the country, while Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have become hubs for deep tech and AI startups.
