India is taking steps on the UN development goals, but challenges continue | Mint

New -Delhi: India has made measurable progress on several of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) goals, but the persistent gaps in critical segments are still challenging the developmental lane, the latest progress report of the government states. The SDG National Indicator Framework Progress Report 2025, released on Sunday by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MOSPI) in celebration of the 19th Statistics Day, offers a detailed time series assessment of more than 280 national indicators in line with all 17 SDG objectives. The 17 SDGs, which agreed by all governments in 2015, are non-binding policy goals for sustainable development, and contain targets such as the removal of poverty and hunger, and ensuring good health, quality education and gender equality by 2030. FY26. Institutional credit to agriculture has risen from 0.76 times the value of agricultural production in FY16 to 1.56 times per FY24, indicating a stronger financial support for the farm sector. The coverage of food security has also expanded, with an increasing part of the beneficiaries under the National Food Safety Act, 2013 between FY16 and FY25. Access to basic services showed a clear improvement. The SDG National Indicator Framework Progress Report 2025 serves as a valuable tool for policymakers to identify priority areas that require interventions, Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State (independent charge) of Mospi, said in a statement. “This year has a special meaning because it has been a decade since the acceptance of the SDGs in 2015,” he said. “This milestone offers a moment for reflection as well as renewed commitment – an opportunity to evaluate our progress and recalibrate our path to achieving the agenda 2030,” he added. The percentage of households with toilets, electricity, clean cooking fuel and pipe drinking have risen significantly over the past decade. The part of renewable energy in total installed power capacity has also grown between FY20 and FY25. However, the report highlights several concerns. Government expenses to essential services, education, health and social protection have dropped slightly from FY16 to FY24. The issuance of soil health cards to farmers has decreased from full coverage between 2015 and 2017 to 87.25% in FY25. The net sown area dropped as a share in the arable land, while deaths in the road accident increased from 11.81 per 1.00,000 population in 2015 to 12.4 in 2022. The adolescent birth rate in girls between 15 and 19 years rose slightly from 11.1 per 1,000 in 2015 to 11.3 in 2021. Cases of dowry-enlarged offenses and overall crimes against women also dropped upwards and also dropped upwards and also dropped upwards. The front of the FY25 GDP of India is expected to grow at 6.5% but only the 7% annual target set under SDG 8. However, the annual growth rate of the manufacturing sector has moderated since FY16. The report is built on data provided by various ministries and departments, and offers an extensive snapshot of the SDG trajectory of India, which shows progress where policy interventions worked, while the critical gaps that require urgent, targeted actions. Meanwhile, Saurabh Garg, secretary at Mospi, said that the year 2025 is an important center in the SDG journey, which is the need to judge progress and refine strategies to stay on track for the 2030 targets. “It (the report) serves not only as a tool to monitor progress on SDGs, but also as a reference for identifying challenges and to recommend follow -up actions at national level,” he added.