Bengal has narrowly trumped Uttar Pradesh in a ranking on Indian states done by CareEdge Ratings covering seven aspects with varying weights — economy, fiscal prudence, infrastructure, financial development, social governance and environment.
But there is a big gap to the top three states — Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka.
Bengal was ranked 13th among 17 large Indian states in the CareEdge State Ranking 2025, achieving a composite score of 38.9. UP was ranked 14th with a score of 38.8.
The state’s score reflects challenges across economic, infrastructure and financial sectors, while its performance in the social category (67.8), covered by parameters such as gross enrolment, literacy, infant mortality, life expectancy and unemployment was relatively better. However, on this parameter, it lagged behind leaders such as Kerala (90.5) and Tamil Nadu (79.3).
Maharashtra topped the CareEdge State Rankings 2025 with a composite score of 56.5. The performance was driven by better fiscal management, financial development, governance and social indicators.
The report highlighted Bengal’s poor performance in the economic pillar, scoring 30.1, placing it among the bottom five states. In fiscal performance, Bengal scored 43.6, a mid-range, surpassing Punjab, Bihar, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, but fell behind states like Odisha (71.1) and Gujarat (65.0).