When it comes to creating an environment conducive to growth, there are many lessons states can learn from one another. This is the essence of the State Competitiveness Report 2004 of the National Productivity Council. The report, which used 95 socio-economic and technological criteria rates states on five competitiveness factors: economic strength, business efficiency, governance quality, human resources and infrastructure.Where overall competitiveness is concerned, Maharashtra with a standard value of 0.543 emerges at the top of the league, followed by Punjab, Gujarat, Karnataka and Kerala. Maharashtra comes first on the competitiveness factors of economic strength and business efficiency. (Editorial).