NITI NCAER States Economic Forum Portal

  • 02 Apr 2025

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The NITI NCAER States Economic Forum portal, jointly developed by NITI Aayog and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), was launched on April 1, 2025, by the Union Finance Minister.

Key Highlights:

The portal serves as a comprehensive digital repository offering over 30 years (1990-91 to 2022-23) of state-wise data on social, economic, and fiscal parameters, promoting evidence-based policymaking and fiscal transparency.

Purpose and Significance

  • Objective: To enable policymakers, researchers, and academics to access, compare, and analyze long-term trends in State finances and socio-economic indicators.
  • Promotes data-driven governance, facilitates inter-State comparisons, and strengthens cooperative federalism.
  • Addresses persistent demands for transparent, centralized, and accessible fiscal data, especially amid concerns of fiscal imbalance between Centre and States.

Core Features of the Portal

The portal is structured around four main components:

  • State Reports:
    • Covers all 28 Indian States.
    • Summarizes macroeconomic and fiscal landscapes based on key indicators—demography, economic structure, social indicators, and fiscal metrics.
  • Data Repository:
    • Offers access to extensive datasets organized into five verticals:
      • Demography
      • Economic Structure
      • Fiscal
      • Health
      • Education
  • Fiscal and Economic Dashboard:
    • Interactive dashboards with graphical representations of vital statistics.
    • Enables visualization of trends and download of datasets.
  • Research and Commentary:Features expert analyses, research papers, and commentary on fiscal policies and State-level financial management.

Benefits and Policy Implications

  • Enhances transparency and informed public debate.
  • Supports benchmarking of States' performance against national averages and peer States.
  • Aids in planning reforms, improving public finance management, and addressing regional disparities.
  • A vital tool for academicians, policy analysts, and government officials working on State-level governance and development planning.