<p>New Delhi: Fiscal performance of Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Kerala are among the worst in the country while Karnataka, Bihar and Telangana made slight improvements in 2023-24 when compared with the previous year, NITI Aayog said in a report on Wednesday.</p><p>Odisha led the NITI Aayog's Fiscal Health Index chart for the second consecutive year. Gujarat and Maharashtra continue in the top five, while Haryana recorded a notable year-on-year improvement of three ranks in Fiscal Health Index 2026 over the previous year. Goa and Jharkhand also feature among the top “achiever” states.</p>.Karnataka top performer in decarbonisation: IEEFA.<p>The Fiscal Health Index categorises the states as ‘achiever’, ‘front runner’, ‘performer’ and ‘aspirational’. States with the best fiscal position are categorised as achievers.</p><p>Odisha, Goa and Jharkhand have been categorised as achievers. Bihar improved from aspirational to performer, signalling better deficit management. Karnataka and Telangana moved from front runner to performer, and Kerala and Tamil Nadu slipped further to the aspirational group, highlighting emerging fiscal pressures.</p><p>The second edition of Niti Aayog’s Fiscal Health Index is based on analysis of state finances during the year 2023-24. The first edition, which was released in 2025, was based on 2022-23 data.</p><p>While the first edition assessed the fiscal performance of 18 major states, this edition includes the 10 northeastern and Himalayan states, making the Index more inclusive and representative of India’s fiscal diversity.</p><p>To account for structural differences across regions, the northeastern and Himalayan states have been evaluated and ranked separately from the major states, Niti Aayog said in a statement.</p><p>Among northeastern and Himalayan states, Arunachal Pradesh has topped in the index, followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and Mizoram.</p><p>“States should prioritise strengthening their fiscal frameworks by improving revenue mobilisation, primarily through broadening GST bases and enhancing own tax capacity by curbing committed expenditure to restore fiscal flexibility," Niti Aayog noted in the report.</p>
<p>New Delhi: Fiscal performance of Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Kerala are among the worst in the country while Karnataka, Bihar and Telangana made slight improvements in 2023-24 when compared with the previous year, NITI Aayog said in a report on Wednesday.</p><p>Odisha led the NITI Aayog's Fiscal Health Index chart for the second consecutive year. Gujarat and Maharashtra continue in the top five, while Haryana recorded a notable year-on-year improvement of three ranks in Fiscal Health Index 2026 over the previous year. Goa and Jharkhand also feature among the top “achiever” states.</p>.Karnataka top performer in decarbonisation: IEEFA.<p>The Fiscal Health Index categorises the states as ‘achiever’, ‘front runner’, ‘performer’ and ‘aspirational’. States with the best fiscal position are categorised as achievers.</p><p>Odisha, Goa and Jharkhand have been categorised as achievers. Bihar improved from aspirational to performer, signalling better deficit management. Karnataka and Telangana moved from front runner to performer, and Kerala and Tamil Nadu slipped further to the aspirational group, highlighting emerging fiscal pressures.</p><p>The second edition of Niti Aayog’s Fiscal Health Index is based on analysis of state finances during the year 2023-24. The first edition, which was released in 2025, was based on 2022-23 data.</p><p>While the first edition assessed the fiscal performance of 18 major states, this edition includes the 10 northeastern and Himalayan states, making the Index more inclusive and representative of India’s fiscal diversity.</p><p>To account for structural differences across regions, the northeastern and Himalayan states have been evaluated and ranked separately from the major states, Niti Aayog said in a statement.</p><p>Among northeastern and Himalayan states, Arunachal Pradesh has topped in the index, followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and Mizoram.</p><p>“States should prioritise strengthening their fiscal frameworks by improving revenue mobilisation, primarily through broadening GST bases and enhancing own tax capacity by curbing committed expenditure to restore fiscal flexibility," Niti Aayog noted in the report.</p>