According to Economic Survey 2024-25, the score of Sustainable Development Goal 9 of Madhya Pradesh in the year 2023-24 was:
- (a)43
- (b)37
- (c)39
- (d)90
Correct — C, 39. The figure comes from NITI Aayog's SDG India Index 2023-24, the table that the Economic Survey reproduces. In Table 9.1 of that index, Madhya Pradesh's SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) score is 39 — which puts the state in the lowest band, 'Aspirant' (0-49), against an all-India Goal 9 score of 61. The score is dragged down by the industry-and-innovation indicators rather than the infrastructure ones: only 7.55 per cent of MP's gross value added comes from manufacturing (the target is 25 per cent) and its India Innovation Index score is 12.74 against 36.40 for India. On the connectivity indicators MP is close to the target — 99.98 per cent of targeted habitations connected under PMGSY and 95.85 per cent of inhabited villages with 3G/4G coverage.
- (a)43 — Not the figure the index reports for Madhya Pradesh on Goal 9. It is a tempting option because it also sits inside the 'Aspirant' band (0-49), so it does not conflict with the well-known fact that MP is weak on this goal — but the reported score is 39.
- (b)37 — Two points below the reported score. Options this close together are the whole point of the question: MPPSC wants the exact number from the table, not an approximate sense that MP scores 'somewhere in the late thirties'.
- (d)90 — 90 is a genuine Madhya Pradesh score in the very same index — but on Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), where the state is a Front Runner on the back of 100 per cent household electrification. Attaching it to Goal 9 swaps the state's strongest goal for one of its weakest.
The SDG India Index, published by NITI Aayog, scores every State and UT from 0 to 100 on 16 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and then computes a composite score. The score bands are fixed: Aspirant 0-49, Performer 50-64, Front Runner 65-99, Achiever 100. In the 2023-24 edition Madhya Pradesh's composite score was 67 — a 'Front Runner', up about 15 points since 2018 — but a composite hides wide variation across goals, and MP's Goal 9 result of 39 is exactly that kind of outlier. Goal 9 is measured through eight indicators: PMGSY road connectivity, manufacturing's share of GVA, manufacturing employment, services' share of GVA, services employment, the India Innovation Index score, households owning a mobile phone, and villages with 3G/4G coverage.
Two ideas make this question answerable rather than pure luck. First, know what Goal 9 measures — industrialisation and innovation, not roads alone — and you will expect a low score for a state whose manufacturing share of GVA is in single digits. Second, know the bands: a state described as weak on industry must be scoring under 50, which immediately kills option (d) 90. That leaves three close numbers, and only the exact table value settles it.
- SDG India Index 2023-24: Madhya Pradesh scores 39 on Goal 9 — the 'Aspirant' band (0-49); India's Goal 9 score is 61
- Score bands in the index: Aspirant 0-49, Performer 50-64, Front Runner 65-99, Achiever 100
- Madhya Pradesh's composite SDG score in 2023-24 was 67 — a Front Runner state
- MP on Goal 9 indicators: manufacturing 7.55% of GVA (target 25%), India Innovation Index score 12.74 (India 36.40), PMGSY habitations connected 99.98%, villages with 3G/4G 95.85%
- Madhya Pradesh's Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) score in the same index is 90
A high composite score can coexist with an Aspirant-level result on a single goal — which is precisely what the question is testing.
- Assuming Goal 9 is only about infrastructure — the industry and innovation indicators are what pull MP's score down
- Reading a state's high composite score (67, Front Runner) as meaning it scores well on every goal
- Attaching a score from one goal to another — 90 is MP's Goal 7 score, not Goal 9
MPPSC asks the exact goal-wise score or rank for Madhya Pradesh from the newest index; UPSC stays conceptual — what the SDGs are, when they must be met, and which agency publishes the index.
Consider the following statements: 1. The Sustainable Development Goals were first proposed in 1972 by a global think tank called the 'Club of Rome'. 2. The Sustainable Development Goals have to be achieved by 2030. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(b) 2 only — the SDGs were adopted by the UN in 2015 with a 2030 deadline; the Club of Rome's 1972 work was 'The Limits to Growth'.
The same framework from the other end — UPSC tests what the SDGs are and when they must be met; MPPSC tests how a state is scoring on one of them.
According to NITI Aayog's SDG India Index 2020, how are the different categories of States’ performance in Sustainable Development Goals defined on the basis of index score range?
- (a) Aspirant : 100, Performer : 65 – 99, Front-runner : 50 – 64, Achiever : 0 – 49
- (b) Aspirant : 0 – 49, Performer : 50 – 64, Front-runner : 65 – 99, Achiever : 100
- (c) Aspirant : 50 – 64, Performer : 65 – 99, Front-runner : 0 – 49, Achiever : 100
- (d) Aspirant : 65 – 99, Performer : 50 – 64, Front-runner : 0 – 49, Achiever : 100
Answer(b) Aspirant : 0 – 49, Performer : 50 – 64, Front-runner : 65 – 99, Achiever : 100
Directly complementary — MPPSC 2024 asked for the score bands of the same index, and those bands are what tell you a score of 39 places Madhya Pradesh in the Aspirant category.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In NITI Aayog's SDG India Index, a State scoring 39 on a goal falls in which category?
- (a)Achiever
- (b)Front Runner
- (c)Performer
- (d)Aspirant
Answer(d) Aspirant — the band runs from 0 to 49.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Sustainable Development Goal 9 relates to:
- (a)Zero Hunger
- (b)Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- (c)Sustainable Cities and Communities
- (d)Affordable and Clean Energy
Answer(b) Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure — measured through manufacturing share, innovation score, road connectivity and mobile/internet coverage.