SDG Urban Index by NITI Aayog

In News

• Recently, NITI Aayog under the Indo-German Cooperation releases the inaugural SDG Urban Index and Dashboard 2021–22.

SDG Urban Index

• About
  • The index and dashboard are a result of the NITI Aayog-Germany’s International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) and BMZ collaboration focused on driving SDG localization in our cities, under the umbrella of Indo-German Development Cooperation.
  • It ranks 56 urban areas on 77 SDG indicators across 46 targets of the SDG framework.
  • It will further strengthen SDG localization and institute robust SDG monitoring at the city level.
• Methodology:

• For each SDG, the urban areas are ranked on a scale of 0-100. 
• A score of 100 implies that the urban area has achieved the targets set for 2030; a score of 0 implies that it is the farthest from achieving the targets among the selected urban areas.
• Urban areas have been classified as below based on their composite score:
  • Aspirant: 0–49
  • Performer: 50–64
  • Front-Runner: 65–99
  • Achiever: 100

• Urban Areas Performance:
  • Shimla tops the Index followed by Coimbatore and Chandigarh.
• Significance:
  • The index highlights the strengths and gaps of ULB-level data, monitoring and reporting systems and the tools used in the index 
  • The dashboard will contribute to the creation of an ecosystem in which all stakeholders will be equipped to adopt and implement data-driven decision making.

Image Courtesy: PIB

Indo-German Economic Cooperation

• About:
  • Indo-German development cooperation is a solid pillar of the Indo-German strategic partnership. Both countries are equally committed to achieving the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs); further, they want to tackle global challenges in the fields of climate and environment.
• Background:
  • The year 2008 marked 50 years of Indo-German development cooperation. Begun in the 1950s, development cooperation with India grew so rapidly that in a short time it became the largest recipient of German development assistance.
  • The construction of the Rourkela Steel Plant in Orissa was a hallmark of this intensive cooperation in the early 1960s. Later, both countries set up one of India’s premier educational institutions – the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras. 
  • In the 1990s, development cooperation dealt with the issues of poverty reduction and social infrastructure.
• Programme focus:
  • The Indo-German development cooperation programme focuses on the following mutually agreed on priority areas:
    • Energy 
    • Environment and Management of Natural Resources 
    • Sustainable Urban Development 

Source: PIB