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Kerala has achieved the top position in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index 2020-21 while Bihar has ranked the lowest, as per the evaluation report released by NITI Aayog on Thursday, 3 June.
This year's evaluation report has found that the country’s overall SDG score improved by 6 points – from 60 in 2019 to 66 in 2020-21.
This positive stride towards achieving the targets of sustainable development is largely driven by exemplary country-wide performance in two stipulated goals: Clean Water and Sanitation, and Affordable and Clean Energy.
The state with the highest SDG Index is Kerala, topping the index with a score of 75. The next place is shared by Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Maharashtra also ranked well on the index.
The states which have made the maximum improvement in their scores from last year are Mizoram, Uttarakhand, and Haryana.
The SDG Index monitors the social, economic, and environmental progress of Indian states and Union territories.
Designed and developed by NITI Aayog, the preparation of the index followed extensive consultations with the primary stakeholders – the states and Union territories; the UN agencies led by United Nations in India; Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), and the key Union ministries.
This year's evaluation marked the third annual edition of NITI Aayog's SDG India Index.
The report was launched by NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson Dr Rajiv Kumar.
The SDG India Index 2020-21 had been developed in collaboration with the United Nations in India, and tracks progress of all states and UTs on 115 indicators that are aligned to MoSPI's National Indicator Framework (NIF).
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