This report presents a first-of-its-kind Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA) for India at the state level. It is anchored in scientific definitions and official data and designed to inform practical choices in fiscal devolution and public investment. At its core are the three pillars that make the analysis both rigorous and usable: Exposure, Sensitivity and Adaptive capacity. As these pillars differ across India, a one-size-fits-all approach will misallocate scarce resources and deepen inequality. A pillar-based CRVA allows us to target protection where risk is greatest and to crowd in growth where it will be most durable. The stakes are economic as much as environmental. Rising temperatures and extreme events erode productivity, depress agricultural yields, damage infrastructure, and impose long-lasting drags on state revenues and national GDP. Put simply, climate risk is a competitiveness issue.
