Announcement of the SDG India Index 2023-24

The fourth edition of the “SDG India Index 2023-24” was recently released by NITI Aayog.

Composite Score Improvement: India’s composite score improved from 57 in 2018 to 71 in 2023-24.
Significant Advancements: Between the 2020-21 and 2023-24 editions of the Index, noteworthy improvements were seen in Goals 1 (No Poverty), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 13 (Climate Action), and 15 (Life on Land).
These are now in the ‘Front Runner’ category (a score between 65–99).
Progress in Specific Goals: Goal 13 showed the most substantial improvement, increasing from 54 in 2020-21 to 67 in 2023-24, followed by Goal 1(No poverty), rising from 60 to 72.

“Sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
The NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) is the premier public policy think tank of the Government of India.

The SDG India Index 2023-24 shows the increase in composite scores across all States, with improvements ranging from 1 to 8 points. Now the scores for States range from 57 to 79, while that of UTs range from 65 to 77.
The number of States and UTs achieving Front Runner status increased from 22 in 2020-21 to 32 in 2023-24 with 10 new entrants -Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Between 2018 and 2023-24, the fastest moving States are Uttar Pradesh (increase in score by 25), followed by J&K (21), Uttarakhand (19), Sikkim (18), Haryana (17), Assam, Tripura and Punjab (16 each), Madhya Pradesh and Odisha (15 each).

The government’s targeted interventions through welfare schemes such as PM Awas Yojana, PM Ujjwala Yojana, Jal Jeevan Mission, and the National Food Security Act etc have resulted in substantial progress across multiple SDGs.

It is the country’s principal tool for measuring national and subnational progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Launched in 2018 by NITI Aayog, the SDG India Index fosters collaborative competition among States and UTs to analyze and improve SDG progress, following the SDSN methodology (Sustainable Development Solutions Network).
It measures and tracks the national progress of all States and Union Territories (UTs) on 113 indicators aligned with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s (MoSPI) National Indicator Framework (NIF).
The Index computes goal-wise scores on the 16 SDGs (out of 17) for each State and UT, generating overall Composite Scores ranging from 0 to 100.
Goal 14 is not included in the calculation of the Composite Score for the Index as it solely pertains to the nine coastal States.
A score of 100 signifies achievement of the targets, with higher the score of a State/UT, the greater the distance to the target achieved.
States and UTs are classified into four categories based on their SDG India Index score —

The SDG India Index 2023-24, accessible via an online dashboard, visualizes development gaps nationwide and regionally.
NITI Aayog committed to supporting States and UTs in SDG localization, aiming to accelerate progress towards Viksit Bharat @ 2047.
The Index is pivotal for tracking and guiding future development, offering insights for global SDG initiatives.