According to NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index 2023-24, which state/states has the highest SDG index score? 1. Kerala 2. Uttarakhand 3. Goa 4. Tamil Nadu
- (a)Only 1
- (b)1 and 2
- (c)2 and 3
- (d)3 and 4
Correct — B, 1 and 2.
The SDG India Index edition covering 2023-24, released by NITI Aayog in July 2024, placed Kerala and Uttarakhand jointly at the top of the state table, each with a composite score of 79.
Statements 1 and 2 are exactly the two states holding that 79. Tamil Nadu follows on 78 and Goa on 77, which is why the options built around them read as near-misses rather than obvious errors.
The idea to carry away is that a composite index can have joint toppers, so a stem that says "state/states" is inviting you to check whether the top score is shared before you settle on a single name.
- (a)Only 1 — Kerala has held the top position on its own before: this is the right answer to the 2020-21 edition, where Kerala led the states alone with 75.
In the 2023-24 edition Uttarakhand also reached 79, so Kerala shares first place instead of holding it by itself, and statement 2 has to be included.
- (c)2 and 3 — Half of this option is sound. Uttarakhand did score 79, so the option is right about Uttarakhand's place at the top of the state table.
Goa is the wrong half. Goa scored 77, two points below the 79 at the top, so pairing it with Uttarakhand mixes the first rank with a state placed lower down.
- (d)3 and 4 — Tamil Nadu and Goa both sit below the top of the 2023-24 table: after the joint toppers on 79 comes Tamil Nadu on 78, then Goa on 77 alongside Himachal Pradesh.
The stem asks for the highest score, and that is the 79 shared by Kerala and Uttarakhand. This option answers a question about the places below it.
The SDG India Index is NITI Aayog's instrument for scoring states and Union Territories on their progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Each unit is scored from 0 to 100 on each goal using indicators drawn from the national monitoring framework, and the goal scores are then combined into a single composite score.
Not every goal feeds that composite: Goal 17 is not scored, and Goal 14 is scored but kept out of the composite because it pertains to the coastal States.
A score of 100 means the targets set for that unit have been achieved. The composite score then places the unit in one of four named performance bands.
The index is the standard yardstick for comparing Indian states on development outcomes, and it underpins how progress on the SDGs is tracked and reported at the sub-national level.
For a Uttarakhand aspirant the 2023-24 edition carries a home-state headline: the state improved enough to share the highest composite score with Kerala, which is the fact this question is built on.
- Kerala and Uttarakhand each scored 79 on the composite SDG India Index 2023-24, the highest score among the states.
- Tamil Nadu followed with 78; Goa and Himachal Pradesh each scored 77.
- India's national composite score in this edition was 71, up from 66 in the 2020-21 edition.
- Bihar recorded the lowest composite score among the states, 57.
- Chandigarh recorded the highest composite score among the Union Territories, 77.
- The index sorts states and UTs into four bands: Achiever (100), Front Runner (65-99), Performer (50-64) and Aspirant (0-49).
- NITI Aayog released this edition of the SDG India Index in July 2024, prepared with the United Nations in India.
- Goal-wise scores cover 16 SDGs, but the composite rests on 15: Goal 17 is unscored, and Goal 14, pertaining to the nine coastal States, is excluded.
- In the 2020-21 edition Kerala led the states alone with 75.
Two states share the 79 at the top of the 2023-24 table; Tamil Nadu sits at 78, with Goa and Himachal Pradesh on 77.
- The edition year in the stem decides the answer; reading 2023-24 as an earlier edition converts a shared first place into Kerala alone.
- A stem worded "state/states" allows more than one qualifying name, so treating it as a single-answer question pushes you towards "Only 1".
- Tamil Nadu sits one point behind on 78 and Goa two points behind on 77, so an option pairing either of them with a 79 state still looks defensible at a glance.
- Composite rank and goal-wise rank are separate things; a state can lead on one goal without leading on the overall index.
- Union Territories are scored on the same 0-100 scale but ranked apart from the states, so a UT score does not settle a question asked about states.
This index shows up as a direct recall of who sits at the top or the bottom of the table for a named edition, which is why the edition year in the stem does real work.
It also appears as a definition item on the four performance bands and their score ranges, and as a goal-wise item naming one SDG, where the answer need not match the composite leader.
UPPSC_2021_PRE_GSI_Q582021Same index and the same part of it — the top of the state table. It works on the 2020-21 edition and asks which state was absent from the top five, so the wording is negative and the edition is earlier; the UKPSC item asks positively for the highest scorers in 2023-24, by which time Uttarakhand had joined Kerala at the top.
CDS_GK_2023_I_Q1092023Same composite index, opposite end of the table: it asks which set of states sits at the bottom of the 2020-21 composite index, where the UKPSC item asks who sits at the top in 2023-24. Preparing one prepares the other, provided the edition year is read carefully in each.
CDS_GK_2023_II_Q672023Same index, tested through goal coverage — which of four listed items is not one of the SDGs the index reports on. It requires the goal list, while the UKPSC item requires the state scores; both rest on knowing what the index actually measures.
MPPSC_2024_PRE_PaperI_Q402024Same index, but it tests the machinery rather than the ranking — the score ranges attached to Aspirant, Performer, Front Runner and Achiever, for the 2020 edition. It is what tells you that a score of 79 is a Front Runner score; the UKPSC item needs the score itself, not the band.
CAPF_GAI_2022_Q1122022Also on the classification rather than the ranking: it asks which of four names is not one of the index categories. Same vocabulary as the band question, tested by recognition of the names alone, with no score or state involved.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which state recorded the second-highest composite score in NITI Aayog's SDG India Index 2023-24?
- (a)Kerala
- (b)Goa
- (c)Tamil Nadu
- (d)Chandigarh
Answerc — Tamil Nadu scored 78, the mark immediately below the 79 at the top of the state table.(a) Kerala scored 79 and shares first place with Uttarakhand. (b) Goa scored 77, a point below Tamil Nadu. (d) Chandigarh is a Union Territory, ranked apart from the states.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In the SDG India Index, a composite score in the range 65-99 places a State or Union Territory in which category?
- (a)Aspirant
- (b)Performer
- (c)Front Runner
- (d)Achiever
Answerc — the Front Runner band covers composite scores from 65 to 99.(a) Aspirant covers 0 to 49 and (b) Performer covers 50 to 64, both bands below this range. (d) Achiever applies at a score of 100, which means the targets set for that unit have been met.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Consider the following statements about the SDG India Index 2023-24: 1. India's national composite score was 71. 2. Bihar recorded the lowest composite score among the states. 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
Answerc — both statements match the edition. India's composite score stood at 71, having risen from 66 in the 2020-21 edition, and Bihar's 57 was the lowest score among the states.(a) drops statement 2 and (b) drops statement 1, each rejecting a figure the edition reports; (d) rejects both.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which Union Territory recorded the highest composite score in the SDG India Index 2023-24?
- (a)Delhi
- (b)Puducherry
- (c)Chandigarh
- (d)Lakshadweep
Answerc — Chandigarh recorded the highest composite score among the Union Territories, 77.(a), (b) and (d) appear in the same Union Territory table, but the leading UT score of 77 belongs to Chandigarh, so each of them stands below it.