NITI Aayog releases Investment Friendliness Index (IFI)
NITI Aayog has released the Investment Friendliness Index for States and Union Territories to benchmark policy, regulatory, institutional, and infrastructure conditions that shape investment decisions.
- NITI Aayog released the Investment Friendliness Index as a comparative framework for States and Union Territories.
- The Union Budget 2025–26 announced the development of an Investment Friendliness Index to support competitive and cooperative federalism.
- The Index covers all 28 States and 8 Union Territories and uses 84 indicators.
NITI Aayog has released the Investment Friendliness Index (IFI), a framework meant to compare how effectively States and Union Territories create conditions for investment. The index matters because investment decisions depend heavily on State-level infrastructure, regulation, institutions, and policy predictability, not only on Union-level economic policy.
The release builds on a mandate given during the 9th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog in July 2024, when the Prime Minister asked NITI Aayog to prepare an Investment-Friendly Charter. The Union Budget 2025–26 then announced the development of an Investment Friendliness Index to strengthen competitive and cooperative federalism.
What the Index measures
UPSC can ask about the purpose and design of the Investment Friendliness Index, the role of States in investment promotion, and the link between competitive federalism and ease of doing business. In Mains, the topic can be used to discuss why State-level regulatory and infrastructure reform matters for private investment and long-term growth.
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