Southern states fall behind in fiscal health; Andhra, Kerala at the bottom

Three states – Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu – in particular have been performing the worst among southern states as they scored below 30 out of 100 in the Index. These states were not among top 10 states in terms of the fiscal performance. Andhra Pradesh and Kerala were among worst performers along with Punjab and West Bengal – each of them, according to Niti Aayog, is facing major fiscal challenges. Kerala and Punjab struggle with low quality of expenditure and debt sustainability, while Andhra Pradesh has high Fiscal deficits, noted Niti Aayog.