Naveen Expresses Happiness as Odisha Emerges Number One State in Fiscal Management in NITI Aayog FHI Report

Bhubaneswar: BJD President and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Assembly Naveen Patnaik has expressed his happiness as Odisha has emerged as the number one state in fiscal management across the country with highest overall fiscal health score of 67.8% in 2022-23 as per the NITI Aayog’s Fiscal Health Index report.

“Glad to share that Odisha has emerged the No-1 state in fiscal management across the country with highest overall fiscal health score of 67.8% in 2022-23, as per the NITI Aayog Fiscal Health Index Report-2025,” Naveen said in a post on X.

From financial bankruptcy to number one state in financial health is a truly transformative 5T achievement, the BJD President stated.

Explaining that Odisha undertook a long journey during his tenure from financial bankruptcy to number one state in financial health, Naveen said: “It is a truly transformative achievement.”

Recalling the state of finance when he took over as the chief minister of Odisha in 2000, he said, earlier, state revenues were used to repay loans and service debts, leaving very little funds available for development projects or people’s welfare.

“Making Odisha financially buoyant helped the state devise its own schemes like Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, KALIA scheme for farmers, Mission Shakti for women, focus on sports and skills transform schools and places of worship, disaster management, invaluable infrastructure, tribal empowerment, food security and also attract investments for generating employment,” Naveen said.

He also thanked the people of Odisha for being partners in this “historic and transformative” journey.

The NITI Aayog’s report titled ‘Fiscal Health Index 2025’ ranked states for 2022-23, covered 18 major states that drive the Indian economy in terms of their contribution to India’s GDP, demography, total public expenditure, revenues, and overall fiscal stability.

Odisha tops the debt index and debt sustainability rankings with better than average scores under quality of expenditure and revenue mobilization.

The state has maintained low fiscal deficits, a good debt profile, and an above average capital outlay/GSDP ratio, as per the report.