Maharashtra has emerged as the top ranking state in terms of overall Internet readiness index, according to a new report published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Indicus Analytics. The report titled ‘Index of Internet Readiness of Indian States’ pits Karnataka and Gujarat as close second and third while Telengana and Tamil Nadu rank fourth and fifth respectively.

Delhi has emerged as the top state among smaller states in terms of Internet readiness index. The national capital is followed by Puducherry and Goa. At the same time, Chandigarh is ranked top among the Union Territories.

Internet Readiness index is a composite index of five components: e-Infrastructure index, e-Participation index, IT-Services and e-Governance index.

According to the report, Maharashtra scored particularly well in four out of the five components that make up for the index. Maharashtra did not score well in terms of infrastructure, but scored better than most states in all other four components giving them the highest ranking.

The report used following parameters (among others) to rank various states:

• Mobile subscribers per person above 15 years of age;
• Share of private players in internet service providers;
• Percentage of households using computer/ laptop with internet connection;
• No. of e-transactions in Utility Bill payments per lakh person above 15 years;
• No. of e-transactions in Business to Citizen (B2C) Services per lakh person above 15 years;
• No. of e-transactions in Informational Services per lakh person above 15 years;
• No. of e-transactions in Statutory and Non-Statutory services per lakh person above 15 years.