The partnership seeks to link national and corporate sustainability indicators, strengthening evidence-based policymaking and responsible business participation

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) to develop a comprehensive framework aligning India’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with corporate sustainability and social responsibility indicators.

The framework will connect national and state-level SDG indicators with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) measures, creating a single platform for tracking sustainable development under the government’s Viksit Bharat vision.

Built on the National Indicator Framework (NIF), which monitors India’s progress towards the SDGs, the initiative aims to integrate state priorities with national goals and corporate actions. It will help ensure that private sector efforts in ESG and CSR contribute directly to measurable development outcomes.

The collaboration, led by Shri Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh, Director General and CEO of IICA, is intended to foster closer coordination between business and government on sustainability. Senior officials from MoSPI and IICA noted that the new framework would promote data-driven policymaking, improve accountability, and strengthen the link between industrial growth and environmental responsibility.

By aligning policy and enterprise-level indicators, the initiative is expected to make India’s sustainability reporting more coherent and transparent. It also seeks to encourage companies to adopt responsible business practices that support national and state SDG targets a step seen as central to achieving the government’s long-term goal of a self-reliant and sustainable Viksit Bharat.