Though Gujarat and Maharashtra have traditionally been dominating the export business because of their locational advantage in terms of coastline, their growth rate has not been as good as those of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana which are doing a lot of catching up despite being land-locked.

Surely, on a low base as compared to the best performing states, but UP registered a growth of 18.3 per cent at a compound level in 2014-15 while it was 14.4 per cent for Haryana. For Gujarat the CAGR was eight per cent while for Maharashtra, the compounded growth was 7.2 per cent, of course on a high absolute base.

"Land-locked states including Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have to focus on massive improvement in basic infrastructure like roads, rail and airports to cut the transaction cost to stay competitive in an otherwise choppy international market," highlighted the ASSOCHAM study.

It noted that the Special Export-processing Zones (SEZs) have played an important role in promoting exports from the better off states. "For instance, Gujarat has been highly successful in tapping the potential of SEZs within its jurisdiction. Another noteworthy aspect is that almost three-fourths of operational SEZs are located in six states - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu."

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