Progress on Key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in India

India has made notable advancements in several key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including poverty reduction, social protection, and health, as highlighted in a recent progress report.

Poverty Reduction and Social Protection

• Social Protection Coverage:
  • Increased to 64.3% of the population by 2025, up from 48.8% in 2022 and 22% in 2016.
• Poverty Levels:
  • Proportion of people living in poverty decreased to 14.96% in 2019-21 from 24.85% in 2015-16.
• National Food Security Act, 2013 Coverage:
  • Expanded to 99% of the eligible population in 2024-25, up from 95.2% in 2015-16.

Health and Sanitation

• Maternal Mortality Ratio:
  • Decreased to 93 per lakh live births in 2019-21 from 130 in 2014-16.
• Sanitation:
  • 100% of districts declared open defecation free (ODF).
  • Improved access to toilet facilities across rural and urban areas.

Economic Indicators

• Income Inequality:
  • Gini coefficient decreased to 0.237 in rural areas and 0.284 in urban areas by 2023-24.
• Challenges:
  • Over half of regular wage/salaried employees in the non-agriculture sector lack social security benefits.
  • Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) declined to 0.5% of GNI in 2024-25 from 2.16% in 2015-16.
  • Remittances as a proportion of GDP decreased to 2.4% in 2024-25.
  • Manufacturing value added as a proportion of GDP was 15.7% in 2024-25 compared to 16.8% in 2015-16.

National Monitoring Framework

• The National Indicator Framework (NIF) tracks 284 indicators across 17 SDGs.
• Presently, 29 states have a monitoring framework to support SDG achievements.
• 62 central ministries and 35 states/union territories have a gender budget cell.