Odisha, Goa and Jharkhand were among the top Indian states to maintain their fiscal health wisely in financial year 2023-24, showed a report by think tank Niti Aayog launched on Wednesday.
The three states were the achievers with highest scores on five crucial indicators of fiscal health: quality of expenditure, revenue mobilisation, fiscal prudence, debt index and debt sustainability.
Based on the performance on the parameters, a fiscal health index (FHI) score was calculated with Odisha leading the chart, followed by Goa and Jharkhand.
While Odisha scored 73.1 on the FHI score, Goa and Jharkhand got 54.7 and 50.5.
According to the report, the Achiever group (Odisha, Goa and Jharkhand) is characterised by high own-tax shares (above 60 percent), relatively large capital outlay (around 4–5 percent of gross state domestic product or GSDP), low fiscal deficits (below 3 percent of GSDP), moderate debt levels (under 25 percent of GSDP) and contained interest burdens.
This is the second edition of the fiscal health report in which 18 major states have been assessed. In the 2025 report, which assessed the states based on FY23 data, Odisha was the top performer but it is Goa which gained one spot in the 2026 report.
On a concerning note, the report highlighted that states like Kerala, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab were the worst performers on the fiscal front.
Interestingly, Kerala and West Bengal are set to go to polls this year while Punjab will have state elections in 2027.
The report said that these states were facing persistent fiscal stress due to rising debt, sustained deficits and modest revenue growth.
While Kerala had an FHI score of 24.8, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh scored 23.8 and 23.1, respectively. Punjab remained at the bottom with a score of 12.4, the least among the 18 major states assessed.
The report suggested that these states, which were the worst performers in the 2025 rankings as well, need to work on targeted fiscal reforms, improve debt management and ensure better-quality spending to restore fiscal balance.
