India’s challenges to achieving the SDGs

In my last blog, I outlined some of the key priorities of the Indian government in relation to the UN’s SDGs. However, there are a number of challenges facing India in achieving these targets, including:

SDG 1 – No Poverty:

• Coordination between Central Government and State Governments is necessary, tailoring central plans to state-level conditions and strengths.
• There is great imbalance in poverty levels between states and between urban and rural areas.
• Keeping infrastructure, like housing and sanitation, and employment up with levels of urbanisation is difficult due to financial limitations and the sheer rate of urbanisation.

SDG 2 – Zero Hunger:

• Supply chain management and transport infrastructure deficiencies mean that food supplies often do not reach the consumer market.
• At the production stage, climate change poses a huge challenge. Adapting to climate change through new techniques and technology is essential. For small farmers in particular, access to and affording technology and other adaptive measures is restricted.

SDG 3 – Good health and well-being

• Private healthcare can be expensive and varies in quality and costs of services in India. While, public healthcare – though much cheaper – is unreliable. A balance between affordable healthcare and suitable quality is needed; technology can play a key role here.
• Accessibility – particularly in rural areas, healthcare is lacking. State discrepancies, as is the case for most of the SDGs, is also of note.
• Awareness – preventive care, from diet to lifestyle, are often underappreciated. In this way, education can play a vital role in improving health outcomes and reducing pressure on healthcare services.

SDG 5 – Gender Equality

• Female labour force participation in India is declining and currently stands at 17.5 per cent. The ratio is even worse in high level positions where women can really bring about significant change to gender norms.
• Inequalities continue to exist in women’s access to and ownership of land. In rural India, where 75 per cent of rural women workers are engaged in agriculture, women’s operational landholding is only 14 percent.

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

• Falling growth rate and a rising fiscal deficit has somewhat restricted the Government’s spending power, while unemployment and low consumption rates are further problems.
• India’s spending on R&D as a percentage of GDP has been stagnant at 0.6 to 0.7 percent in the last two decades, far less than advanced countries.
• Infrastructure standards are low, pricing out more technologically-advanced firms from competing in the market.

These challenges and the goals they pursue are interlinked. For example, improving infrastructure such as road and rail networks can also help to alleviate poverty by attracting investment and creating jobs, enable transport of goods to work towards zero hunger, and reduce inequalities between areas as connections improve.

With hundreds of millions still living in poverty according to different indicators – from income, to health, to education – India needs support if it is to attain the SDGs.

UK companies are already contributing to these and other goals in India. The UKIBC is collating case studies of UK companies supporting India’s endeavours towards the SDGs. If your company would like to feature on the UKIBC SEI website, contact kealan.finnegan@ukibc.com with information on the work that your company is doing to support socio-economic development in India.

Next time, I will look at the SDGs from a state level, comparing states on their current achievements working towards the SDGs and priorities and needs for the future. Due to the contrasting environments, resources, climates and economic conditions, India’s states are performing on variable levels and need different forms of support for development.