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How well has Gujarat performed in terms of GSDP growth, education, health and in other key categories can
be best assessed by comparing its performance with that of other states; in particular, states closest to it in
terms of socio-economic development. If 1999-2000 is taken as the 'base' year, it is found that across a wide
array of indicators, Gujarat is closest to these six states-Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra,
Punjab and Tamil Nadu. Three of them are coastal states, like Gujarat. These states will be referred to as C7
(comparable seven). Performance is measured in terms of various indicators of improvement (e.g. growth)
over the period of 1999 to the latest year for which there is data-generally 2011 (latest year for National
Sample Survey, NSS, data on education) and 2013 (latest year for GSDP).