Answer:

The adoption rate within the country as well as those by foreign nationals in India has gone down by nearly 50 per cent in the last five years.

While South Indian states such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala have still maintained a relatively high rate of adoption, states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Goa and Uttarakhand, along with the seven North-Eastern states, have recorded an abysmally low number of child adoption.

As per Government records, 6,321 children were adopted in 2010. However, the number of adoptions came down to 4,354 in 2013. Maharashtra has the highest rate of adoption despite the downward trend. Among the foreign countries, the US leads in adopting Indian children.