India makes strides on UN development goals, but challenges persist

New Delhi: India has made measurable progress across several of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but persistent gaps in critical segments continue to challenge its development trajectory, the government’s latest progress report shows.

The SDG National Indicator Framework Progress Report 2025, released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) on Sunday to mark the 19th Statistics Day, presents a detailed time-series assessment of over 280 national indicators aligned with all 17 SDG goals.

The 17 SDGs, agreed to by all governments in 2015, are non-binding policy objectives for sustainable development, and include targets such as removing poverty and hunger, and ensuring good health, quality education, and gender equality by 2030.

Among the standout gains, budgetary allocation to the department of health research soared by over 400% between FY16 and FY26. Institutional credit to agriculture rose from 0.76 times the value of agricultural output in FY16 to 1.56 times by FY24, signalling stronger financial backing for the farm sector.

Food security coverage also expanded, with a rising share of beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act, 2013 between FY16 and FY25. Access to basic services showed marked improvement.

The SDG National Indicator Framework Progress Report 2025 serves as a valuable tool for policymakers to identify priority areas requiring interventions, Rao Inderjit Singh, minister of state (independent charge) of MoSPI, said in a statement.

"This year holds special significance as it marks a decade since the adoption of the SDGs in 2015," he said.

"This milestone offers a moment for both reflection and renewed commitment—an opportunity to evaluate our progress and recalibrate our path toward achieving the Agenda 2030," he added.

The proportion of households with toilets, electricity, clean cooking fuel, and piped drinking water rose significantly over the past decade. The share of renewable energy in total installed power capacity also grew between FY20 and FY25.

Yet, the report highlights several areas of concern. Government expenditure on essential services, education, health, and social protection edged down slightly from FY16 to FY24.

The issuance of soil health cards to farmers declined from full coverage between 2015 and 2017 to 87.25% in FY25.

The net sown area as a share of cultivable land dipped, while road accident fatalities rose from 11.81 per 1,00,000 population in 2015 to 12.4 in 2022.

Alarmingly, the adolescent birth rate in girls aged 15–19 increased slightly from 11.1 per 1,000 in 2015 to 11.3 in 2021. Cases of dowry-related offences and overall crimes against women also trended upward between 2015 and 2022.

On the economic front, India’s FY25 GDP is projected to grow at 6.5%, just shy of the 7% annual target set under SDG 8. However, the manufacturing sector’s annual growth rate has moderated since FY16.

Built on data provided by various ministries and departments, the report offers a comprehensive snapshot of India’s SDG trajectory, showcasing progress where policy interventions have worked, while flagging critical gaps that demand urgent, targeted action.

Meanwhile, Saurabh Garg, secretary at MoSPI, said that the year 2025 is a pivotal midpoint in the SDG journey, underscoring the need to assess progress and refine strategies to stay on course for the 2030 targets.

"It (the report) serves not only as a tool for monitoring progress on SDGs but also as a reference for identifying challenges and recommending follow-up actions at the national level," he added.