States with abundant natural resources and less economic activity are environmentally most sustainable in India, while it is just the opposite in the case of those with high intensity of economic activities, according to the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) here.

The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) for Indian States 2011, a study by the Centre for Development Finance under the 1970-founded IFMR, notes that the index for two years — 2009 and 2011 — shared this common characteristic.