🇮🇳 India Breaks into Top 100 in SDG Rankings — Cause for Celebration or Reflection?

 🇮🇳 India Breaks into Top 100 in SDG Rankings — Cause for Celebration or Reflection?

📆 By Suryavanshi IAS Team | June 2025

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🌍 India at 99: A Symbolic Breakthrough

For the first time since 2016, India has made it into the Top 100 in the Sustainable Development Report (SDR) published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) under the UN. India now ranks 99th out of 167 countries, a significant rise from 110th in 2016 — reflecting a steady but uneven climb on the path to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

But is this a milestone or merely a marker on a longer road ahead?

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📊 What Helped India Climb?

✅ Poverty Reduction (SDG 1)

Despite limited public access to consumption data since 2018 and outdated poverty lines (e.g., Rangarajan line — ₹33/day rural, ₹47/day urban), proxy indicators such as World Bank estimates and NFHS surveys suggest poverty has halved from 22% (2012) to 12% (2023).

🧠 IAS Insight: Aspirants must understand the importance of data transparency and the role of statistical credibility in policy framing.

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✅ Energy Access (SDG 7)

India has nearly achieved universal household electrification, with significant strides in renewable energy deployment (4th globally). Solar and wind investments have turned India into a clean energy powerhouse.

📌 UPSC Relevance: Link this with climate justice, energy security, and India's NDCs under the Paris Agreement.

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✅ Infrastructure & Digital Penetration (SDG 9)

UPI, mobile networks, and Jan Dhan have transformed financial inclusion. Yet COVID-19 exposed digital divides, especially in rural education access (SDG 4).

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🚨 Areas of Concern

❌ Zero Hunger (SDG 2)

Despite food availability, nutritional inequality persists:

• 👶 Stunting: 35.5% (NFHS-5) — only a 3% drop since NFHS-4.
• 🧍 Wasting: 19.3% — a slight decline.
• 🍩 Obesity: Rising sharply in urban, affluent populations.

⚖️ This double burden — undernutrition and overnutrition — mirrors global inequality patterns and reflects policy failure in food diversity, awareness, and access.

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❌ Governance & Institutions (SDG 16)

India continues to lag in indicators of institutional strength, including:

• Rule of Law
• Press Freedom
• Judicial independence
• Accountable institutions

These foundational indicators are crucial to sustainable development, even though they often receive less political attention.

📣 IAS Ethics Angle: This is a textbook case to illustrate how governance quality determines outcomes across sectors.

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🧠 For UPSC Aspirants: Prelims to Essay Paper

Theme	GS Paper	Linkage
SDGs and India’s Progress	GS Paper II	Governance, Welfare Schemes
Digital Divide & Equity	GS Paper III	Infrastructure, Inclusive Growth
Malnutrition & Public Health	GS Paper II & IV	Ethics of Welfare
Institutional Strength & Rule of Law	GS Paper II & Essay	Constitutional Morality, Democracy
Energy & Sustainability	GS Paper III	Climate Change, Renewable Energy

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📌 Key Takeaways for Essay/Interview

• "Growth without equity is not sustainable."
• "The presence of electrification or food grains doesn't ensure justice if access is unequal or outcomes are poor."
• "Strong institutions are the invisible infrastructure of development."

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✨ Preparing for IAS? Think Beyond the News

📚 At Suryavanshi IAS, we teach you to decode development reports and connect the dots across GS papers, ethics, and essay — with depth and precision.

🎓 New Foundation Batch starts from July 2, 2025 in Lucknow

🏛️ Special modules on:

• SDG Index & India’s Global Commitments
• Ethics & Governance Case Studies
• Indian Poverty Estimation & Data Reforms

📍 Location: Indira Nagar, Lucknow
📞 Contact: +91-6306446114
🧭 Suryavanshi IAS – Shaping Thinkers, Not Just Toppers