The India Today State of the States 2022 study put Manipur on top
- conducted by Marketing and Development Research Associates (MDRA) -

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Manipur has won the most improved small state for the third consecutive time after surpassing other north-eastern states with its performance in eight out of 12 categories, revealed a study by India Today.

In the annual State of the States survey carried out by India Today, the state has managed to achieve this feat after it improved its performance in eight out of 12 categories -- economy, infrastructure, agriculture, health, governance, entrepreneurship, tourism, and cleanliness -- in the past five years.

Notably, the 'Most Improved State' was selected on the basis of the Compound Annual Growth Rates (CAGR) for the past five years. While it tops the small states in the economy, infrastructure, and entrepreneurship, Manipur also figures among the top three in three categories—health, governance, and tourism.

How the states were ranked?

The India Today State of the States 2022 study was conducted by Marketing and Development Research Associates (MDRA), a premier Delhi-based research agency.

The robust methodology is designed to rank the states on the basis of the most relevant and exhaustive data, covering aspects that are crucial in fostering inter-state competition and upholding the true spirit of India’s federal structure. The states were ranked under two broad groups -- Best performing states and Most improved states.

Best-performing states indicate the latest performance of the state specific to the category and are based on the most recent data across multiple parameters.

On the other hand, most improved states indicate improvement of the state in the past five years and based on positive changes (outcome-based) in the past five years.

The states were also divided into two broad groups—big states and small states—based on geographical area and population. Deliberations revealed that bigger states have their own advantages and disadvantages vis-à-vis the smaller states. States with an area of over 35,000 sq. km and a population of over 5 million were clubbed as the big states and the rest as small.

In each category, several parameters on which the states needed to be competitive were fixed. Based on inputs from experts—academia, policymakers, and policy influencers such as representatives from the NITI Aayog, think tanks, policy research organizations, sociologists, and economists—125 parameters were finalized for evaluating the best-performing states and 89 for the most-improved states.

The relative weights of the parameters were finalized in consultation with the experts, India today editors, and the MDRA team.