About Fiscal Health Index:
- It was introduced by NITI Aayog. It provides a systematic framework to evaluate the fiscal performance of 18 major Indian states, 10 North-Eastern and Himalayan states.
- It provides a comprehensive and comparable assessment of the fiscal performance of Indian states.
- The Index has been designed as a data-driven framework to evaluate fiscal soundness, guide reforms, and promote evidence-based fiscal policymaking across states.
- It is built on five key pillars of fiscal health: Quality of Expenditure, Revenue Mobilisation, Fiscal Prudence, Debt Index, and Debt Sustainability.
- The index classifies states into four tiers.
- Achievers: These are states with strong fiscal discipline, high own-tax revenues, low deficits, and manageable debt;
- Front Runners: These states maintain broadly sound finances but fall short of the top tier on one or more indicators;
- Performers: They occupy the middle ground, with mixed results across the five pillars.
- Aspirational: These states are those facing the most significant fiscal stress, characterised by persistent deficits, high debt, and limited revenue capacity.
Key Highlights of Fiscal Health Index (FHI) 2026
- Odisha, Goa and Jharkhand have been categorised as achievers.
- Karnataka and Telangana moved from front runner to performer, and Kerala and Tamil Nadu slipped further to the aspirational group.
- Among northeastern and Himalayan states, Arunachal Pradesh has topped in the index, followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and Mizoram.
