Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) announced results of the first ever States’ Start-up Ranking 2018. DIPP began this exercise from January, 2016.Categories of RankingStates have been identified as leaders across various categories such as Start-up policyleaders, incubation hubs, seeding innovation, scaling innovation, regulatory changechampions, procurement leaders, communication champions, North-Eastern leader, andhill state leader.On the basis of performance in these categories, the States have been recognised as theBest Performer, Top Performers, Leaders, Aspiring Leaders, Emerging States andBeginners, as follows:•Best PerformerGujarat•Top PerformersKarnataka, Kerala, Odisha, and Rajasthan•LeadersAndhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana•Aspiring LeadersHaryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal•Emerging StatesAssam, Delhi, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand•BeginnersChandigarh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, and TripuraFifty-one officers from States and Union Territories have been identified as “Champions”,who have made significant contributions towards developing their State’s Start-upecosystem.Rationale for rankingThe key objective of the exercise was to encourage States and Union Territories to takeproactive steps towards strengthening the Start-upecosystems in their states. Themethodology has been aimed at creating a healthy competition among States to furtherlearn, share and adopt good practices.Start-up ranking frameworkDIPP consulted all stakeholders of the Start-up ecosystem and came up with 7 key reformareas as the basis of the States’ Start-up ranking framework. An online portal was launched,which was instrumental in enabling States seamlessly submit their initiatives across thesereform areas.