India's SDG list : Shimla tops, Dhanbad ranks last

24 November 2021

In first of its kind "Sustainable Development Goals" (Urban Index) released by the central government, Shimla gained the top spot, while Dhanbad topped from the bottom.

India released its first such index  in an attempt to localize SDGs and ensure progress at the national, state, Union territory and local levels.

This index is a result of the collaborative efforts of NITI Aayog-GIZ and BMZ, under the Indo-German Development Cooperation, that assessed 56 cities on 77 SDG indicators.

The list was prepared taking into consideration performance of cities under categories such as poverty, health, education, gender equality, affordable and clean energy and climate action, among others.

Here’s the list of the top 10 and bottom 10 cities on the SDG Urban Index:

Top 10 cities on the SDG Urban Index:

1. Shimla

2. Coimbatore

3. Chandigarh

4. Thiruvananthapuram

5. Kochi

6. Panaji

7. Pune

8. Tiruchirappalli

9. Ahmedabad

10. Nagpur

Bottom 10 cities on the SDG Urban Index:

1. Faridabad

2. Kolkata

3. Agra

4. Kohima

5. Jodhpur

6. Patna

7. Guwahati

8. Itanagar

9. Meerut

10. Dhanbad

The data on these indicators have been sourced from official data sources including the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Unified District Information System for Education (U-DISE), data portals of various ministries, and other government data sources.