- Why in news
- On 23 March 2026, the Rajya Sabha was told that MoSPI releases the SDG National Indicator Framework Progress Report every year on 29 June. The 2025 edition lists 284 national indicators.
- What it is
- The SDG National Indicator Framework (NIF) is India's set of national indicators for tracking the Sustainable Development Goals. MoSPI develops it and publishes a progress report each year. States and UTs build their own State Indicator Frameworks for sub-national monitoring.
- Publisher and timing
- MoSPI releases the report every year on National Statistics Day, 29 June.
- Number of indicators
- The 2025 report has 284 national indicators.
- Centre and States
- MoSPI develops the NIF. States and UTs develop and update their own State Indicator Frameworks (SIF), based on their priorities, data needs and resources.
- Poverty highlight
- The share of the population living in poverty fell from 24.85 percent in 2015–16 to 14.96 percent in 2019–21.
- Coordination set-up
- MoSPI, NITI Aayog and the UN Resident Coordinator Office signed a tripartite MoU on SDG data. MoSPI then set up the Data for Development Coordination Forum (DDCF) on SDGs.
Don’t confuse with NIF vs SIF: NIF is the national framework developed by MoSPI. SIF is the State-level framework developed by each State or UT.
Don’t confuse with SDG-NIF report vs SDG India Index: The NIF report is MoSPI's statistical progress report. The SDG India Index is a separate NITI Aayog index that ranks States and UTs.
Reports and indices: 14 Prelims questions since 2013; they test who publishes a report and what it measures.
Why it matters
- Gives a common, official data base to track India's progress on the SDGs.
- Supports global comparability and transparency of India's SDG reporting.
Problems
- States build their own frameworks to suit their priorities and resources, so data may not be uniform across States.
- Many indicators depend on data from line Ministries and surveys, which can have gaps and delays.
Way forward
- Use the DDCF to review indicators and build data plans with ministries and UN agencies.
- Use new technologies and capacity building so States can produce comparable data.
Put in your answer
Poverty decline: Share of the population living in poverty fell from 24.85% (2015–16) to 14.96% (2019–21), a data point for Goal 1.
Women's labour participation: Female-to-male LFPR rose from 0.43 in 2020–21 to 0.54 in 2023–24, an example for Goal 5.
Social protection coverage: Coverage under social protection systems rose from 22.0% in 2016 to 64.3% in 2025.
- 2018Mains GS3 · Q1Comment on India's progress toward SDG energy access goals.
- 2013Mains GS2 · Q15Identify health-related MDGs and discuss government success in achieving them.
- 2020Mains GS2 · Q18Critically examine NEP 2020's conformity with SDG-4 education goal.
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: Annual MoSPI report with 284 indicators; reports are only 4% of news-linked Prelims questions, so read only.
Worth revising until Prelims 2027: most news questions come within two years of the event.