Karnataka, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, AP have been ranked as leaders in e-readiness assessment as per the India e-Readiness Assessment Report 2008 released by Department of Information Technology, Government of India.

The report published by department in collaboration with National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) is the fifth in series of reports that categorizes states/UTs on level of their e-Readiness. The study calculates the e-readiness index based on three sub-indicators, i.e. the environment that promotes the spread and usage of ICT, the readiness of different stake holders of the economy (government, businesses and the individual) to use ICT and the degree of usage of ICT by the stakeholders.

The assessment report for 2008 released by DIT differentiates states and UTs in the following different levels:

• Leaders – Karnataka, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh
• Aspiring Leaders – West Bengal, Kerala, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab
• Expectants – Andaman and Nicobar, Madhya, Pradesh, Goa, Orissa, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar
• Average Achievers – Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Rajasthan
• Below Average Achievers –Tripura, Nagaland, Puducherry, Meghalaya
• Least Achievers – Manipur, Mizoram, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu

A regional comparison as part of the report shows southern states as clear leaders followed by the eastern region where all the states are either the aspiring leaders or expectants.  Amongst the states in the northwest region, Rajasthan lags behind while majority of the states in north east are in the bottom two categories. The Western region demonstrates a highly disparate performance, with Maharashtra as a leader and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu as least achievers.