India's growth driven by safety nets, growth-focused reforms: NITI Aayog VC

Business Standard

20-07-2025

India's progress across various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been enabled by a dual strategy that encompasses strong safety nets and reforms that foster growth through a more enabling environment, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Suman Bery has said.
Bery pointed out that 240 million Indians escaped from multi-dimensional poverty in the decade between 2013-14 and 2022-23, and social protection coverage has more than doubled since 2015.
India is on track to achieve health targets for maternal, child and infant mortality before 2030, the target year of the SDGs, he said.
Our progress in India has been enabled by a dual strategy - strong safety nets to protect the most vulnerable and reforms that foster growth through a more enabling environment and ease of doing business, making India the fastest growing major economy today, Bery said.
Bery delivered the keynote address at a high-level side event titled SDGs: Keeping up the Momentum for Agenda 2030' hosted on Friday by the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in collaboration with NITI Aayog on the sidelines of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
On climate action, India has achieved a landmark in its energy transition journey by reaching 50 per cent of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sourcesfive years ahead of the target set under its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement.
Bery noted that these achievements are indicative of the fact that India has put in place a delivery mechanism to deliver on international commitments.
India takes those international commitments seriously, he said.
He added that development in a democracy is a political act and we have been guided by the intellectual and indicator framework of the SDGs, but by the same token, the programs have to be homegrown, and they are homegrown.
There is a pleasing confluence of the agenda of inclusive growth of India and the agenda the world came together to endorse at that fleeting moment in 2015 when we had unanimity, both at the SDGs" and at the Paris climate agreement, he said.
Bery also highlighted India's efforts to localise SDGs through state-level indicator frameworks and active community participation.
He showcased India's pioneering work in building world-class Digital Public Infrastructure, promoting financial inclusion, and enabling data-driven governance as transformative tools for sustainable development.
Addressing the event, Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director Asia Pacific at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Kanni Wignaraja said that the UN agency's experience in India demonstrates that SDG localisation is even more highly contextual than originally thought.
SDG localisation is a very dynamic process and shaped by how people interact quite differently with policies and institutions that keep up with their needs and their choices", she said.
In its experience of working in India on SDG localisation, the UNDP noted a mix of factors that contribute to achieving the goals effectively.
These factors include robust data, clarity of roles and expectations, alignment of policy with practice between levels of government, a private sector that leans in behind a locally-led agenda and "most importantly, a large enough number of motivated people, both nationally and locally, who actually make it happen", she said.
Noting that India has recorded the second fastest progress on the global SDG index among G20 countries, Wignaraja termed it as quite an achievement.
Wignaraja also termed India's digital public infrastructure as a game changer, saying that the unified payments interface (UPI) is now the world's largest real-time payment system.
India's digital stack is now being adopted by many countries and, the support by India to South-South cooperation is very, very welcomed, she said.
On climate action, Wignaraja noted that while energy transitions take time, India continues to prove that growth and sustainability can go hand-in-hand, investing in clean energy, green jobs and innovation for the future.
UNDP is proud to continue its work alongside India's effort, including through enhanced innovations and South-South exchanges, she said.
In his opening remarks, Permanent Representative of India to the UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish reaffirmed India's strong commitment to the 2030 Agenda.
He highlighted India's integrated approach to sustainable development, which combines the convergence of flagship programs, SDG localisation, advances in digital infrastructure, and proactive climate action and the valuable lessons that can be learnt from India's experience.
The event also featured presentations from international partners sharing their national experiences, including experts from Mexico, Indonesia and Ethiopia.