Shimla, Coimbatore and Chandigarh topped the NITI Aayog's first Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Urban India Index, while Dhanbad, Meerut and Itanagar were the worst performers, according to a report released by the government think tank on Tuesday. According to an official statement, the NITI Aayog has developed the SDG Urban India Index and Dashboard in collaboration with GIZ and BMZ under the umbrella of Indo-German Development Cooperation. 

Launching the index and dashboard, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar said: “Cities are fast becoming engines of growth. The SDG Urban Index and Dashboard, a product of innovative partnership between NITI Aayog and GIZ, will go a long way in instituting a robust SDG monitoring system in our cities and is a milestone step in our SDG localisation journey.” 

The statement said that the index highlighted the strengths and gaps of urban local body-level data, monitoring and reporting systems. “The index and dashboard will further strengthen SDG localisation and institute robust SDG monitoring at the city level,” it said. 

Top-10 urban areas in SDG Urban Index and Dashboard 2021-22 were Shimla, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Panaji, Pune, Tiruchirapalli, Ahmedabad and Nagpur. 

Bottom-10 urban areas in the SDG Urban Index and Dashboard 2021-22 were Dhanbad, Meerut, Itanagar, Guwahati, Patna, Jodhpur, Kohima, Agra, Kolkata and Faridabad. Out of 56 urban areas ranked in the index, 44 were with population of above 10 lakh, 12 were State capitals with a population of less than 10 lakh.