What’s in the news?

• The Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has conducted a joint study to evaluate the innovation performance of manufacturing firms in India. 
• The study, titled “National Manufacturing Innovation Survey (NMIS) 2021-22”, was conducted as a two-pronged survey that examined the innovation processes, outcomes, and barriers in manufacturing firms, and also studied the innovation ecosystem that affects innovation outcomes in these firms. 
• The exercise is a follow-up of the DST’s first National Innovation Survey held in 2011.

Highlights of the Survey

• Overall, Karnataka is the most “innovative” State, followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu (DNH&DD), Telangana, and Tamil Nadu.
• Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu had the highest share of innovative firms at 46.18%, 39.10% and 31.90%, respectively, with Odisha, Bihar, and Jharkhand reporting the lowest share of such firms at 12.78%, 13.47% and 13.71%, respectively.
• Nearly three-fourth of the 8,000-odd firms surveyed, most of them micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME), neither made any innovative product nor business process innovation during the survey period of financial years 2017-2020. 
• However, nearly 80% of the firms that did reported significant gains such as expanding markets and reducing production costs.
• The most frequent “barriers to innovation” were the lack of internal funds, high innovation costs, and lack of financing from external sources. 
• Gujarat and DNH&DD reported the highest frequencies of barriers to innovation, despite being among India’s most industrialised States.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka-ranked-the-most-innovative-state-by-the-national-manufacturing-innovation-survey/article66804544.ece#:~:text=A%20survey%20on%20the%20degree,%2C%20Telangana%2C%20and%20Tamil%20Nadu.