New Delhi, July 17 -- Gujarat has emerged as India's most investment-friendly state in the first edition of NITI Aayog's Investment Friendliness Index, ahead of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, as the government's policy think tank unveiled a new framework to assess how effectively states create an environment that attracts and sustains investments.

The index was announced in the Union budget for 2026-27 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the ninth Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog, called for an "Investment-Friendly Charter", encouraging states to improve policies, regulatory clearances, land availability, power supply, water access and other factors influencing investment decisions.

Unlike earlier assessments that focused lar...