India's SDG progress strong in health, education, inequality: Mospi report

The 2025 National Indicator Framework report shows improved outcomes in health, poverty, education and inequality, but highlights gaps in energy and social coverage

India has made significant progress in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators but needs to address challenges in certain areas, according to the National Indicator Framework (NIF) progress report 2025, launched on Sunday on the occasion of the 19th National Statistics Day.

 

The report presents time series data on the SDG national indicators based on inputs received from the concerned line ministries. It highlights significant gains made in maternal and child health, education, poverty and climate change since 2015–16.

 

The National Indicator Framework this year tracked 284 indicators across 17 SDG goals, compared to 290 indicators tracked last year.

 

Data showed that the proportion of the population covered by any form of social protection rose to 64.3 per cent in 2025 from 22 per cent in 2016. Similarly, the number of senior citizens provided institutional assistance through senior citizen homes or day care centres funded by the government increased nearly sevenfold to 157,000 in 2023–24 from 23,000 in 2015.

 

Meanwhile, the gross value added (GVA) in agriculture per worker increased to ₹94,110 in 2024–25 from ₹61,247 in 2015–16, indicating improved agricultural productivity and income per worker in the country. 

 

In terms of consumption inequality, the Gini coefficient of household expenditure has decreased from 0.283 in 2011–12 to 0.237 in 2023–24 in rural areas. For urban areas, it has declined from 0.363 in 2011–12 to 0.284 in 2023–24, showing a clear move towards more equal spending across both regions.

 

In education, the gross enrolment ratio—or number of students enrolled as a proportion of the school-age population—for tertiary education rose to 29.5 per cent in 2022–23 from 23.7 per cent in 2015–16.

 

However, in terms of clean energy, the share of renewable energy in total installed electricity generation rose to only 22.13 per cent in 2024–25 from 16.02 per cent in 2015–16.

 

The report also showed that forest cover as a percentage of total geographical area increased from 21.34 per cent in 2015 to 21.76 per cent in 2023, indicating a steady rise in the country’s forest area.