Gujarat most suited for entrepreneurs, says Amway study

Gujarat, a state where the country's current Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been the chief minister for more than 13 years, has emerged as the most entrepreneurial state in the country at present, revealed a study. The trend will remain the same in the immediate future, indicated the India Entrepreneurship Report 2014, a study conducted by direct-selling firm Amway India jointly with Indicus Analytics.

Among other states, the study revealed, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi are among the top in the list of most entrepreneur-friendly states as per current entrepreneurial confidence index. The report was released by Amarendra Sinha, special secretary & development commissioner, Ministry of MSME, Government of India on Tuesday.

According to the report, Gujarat, Delhi and Punjab offer the most conducive environment for future entrepreneurs as revealed by the Future Entrepreneurial Readiness index. Himachal Pradesh tops the list on 'Entrepreneurial Attitude' followed by Bihar and Jharkhand.

Gujarat ranks one when it comes to infrastructure support and supportive governance and ranks one in the entrepreneurial confidence index. The state comes fifth when it comes to entrepreneurial attitude. HP, on the other hand, ranks one on the entrepreneurial attitude scale and comes fourth and fifth respectively when it comes to infrastructure support and supportive governance.

West Bengal and Kerala are ranked ninth and tenth in the list.

In terms of future entrepreneurial readiness index, Gujarat ranks one in enabling environment and growth-oriented economy and third in forward-looking governance. The state, thus ranks one in the entrepreneurial readiness index as well.

The study is based on the perceptions of respondents with regard to prerequisites of entrepreneurship in their respective states. The data used for index computation was collected through a primary survey of over 5000 respondents across 20 states and 50 cities across India, including unified Andhra Pradesh.

The sample respondents comprised new entrepreneurs who started their ventures within a year of the study as well as general population.

Anshu Budhraja, general manager, Amway India, said, "India will have the largest workforce in the world by 2025. One of the biggest challenges that confronts the country today is to offer appropriate job opportunities for this growing work force."

Laveesh Bhandari, chief economist, Indicus Analytics, said, "Based on the perceptions of a cross section of people, the report offers insights on the ability, capability and preparedness of various states to nurture entrepreneurial initiatives. With the feedback directly from the people, the report offers a ready reference for policy makers to identify areas requiring immediate attention."