Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, AP lead performers in Niti's SDG Index

Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have emerged as top performing states in Niti Aayog's SDG India Index 2019, which evaluates progress in social, economic and environmental terms, according to a report released on Monday.

Bihar, Jharkhand and Arunchal Pradesh are the worst performing states in this year's Index for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"The United Nations' SDG target of 2030 can never be met without India... We are fully committed to achieving UN's SDG target," Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said at the launch of SDG India Index 2019.

According to the report, while Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim have shown maximum improvement, states like Gujarat have not shown any improvement vis-a-vis 2018 rankings.

India's composite score also improved from 57 in 2018 to 60 in 2019.

The SDG India Index, developed by Niti Aayog, took into account 16 out of 17 goals specified by the United Nations as SDGs.

Under the Index, states were monitored on real time basis across 100 indicators out of 306 outlined by the United Nations.

The UN-SDGs have 17 goals, 169 targets and 306 national indicators.