ASSESSING THE PROGRESS OF INDIA TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS BY 2030

The United Nations has taken an important decision to go forward with pursuing sustainable development by introducing the 2030 Global Agenda in 2015. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are universal policy agenda to envisage a world free of poverty, hunger, disease and violence, where all forms of life can thrive and promises to build a safe, resilient and sustainable world. To assess the performance of India in achieving sustainability by 2030, the study aims to understand how far India is from achieving SDGs at both the national and subnational level. In this study, the present status of India’s primary targets of SDGs is analyzed with the help of a composite index. A cluster analysis was also performed to examine the region-specific and issue-specific problems of sustainable development in India. At the sub- national level, 14 out of 29 states have performed well in the composite index. This study has identified the arenas India needs to focus on to achieve sustainability by 2030.