The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Invest India, the national investment promotion agency under the Commerce & Industry Ministry, have launched the ‘SDG (sustainable development goals) Investor Map’ for India with 18 Investment Opportunities Areas (IOAs) in six critical sectors such as education and healthcare to help the country achieve its development goals.

“With the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the financing gap for the SDGs in India has only widened further and decades of development progress are nearly on the verge of reversal. Investing in the SDGs at this point is crucial to ‘building back better’ and making the economy and our societies more resilient and sustainable,” according to Shoko Noda, Resident Representative, UNDP India. He added that the map had come at a critical time for India.

The six focus sectors identified in the map include education, healthcare, agriculture and allied activities, financial services, renewable energy and alternatives and sustainable environment.

Private-public sector support

“By mapping the overlaps and gaps between public sector priorities and private sector interest, the SDG Investor Map lays out pathways that can bring together private-sector investment and public sector support for six SDG-enabling sectors....,” according to an official release circulated by the Commerce & Industry Ministry on Thursday.

A rigorous analytical process that included extensive consultations with major domestic and international investors, government stakeholders and think-tanks was carried out to identify the focus sectors and the IOAs within them, the release said. This was to ensure that the map’s findings reflected the market sentiment.

Of the 18 IOAs identified, 10 are mature investable areas that have seen robust private equity and venture capital activity, and feature companies that have been able to unlock scale and demonstrate profitability, the release added.

The remaining eight IOAs are emerging opportunities, which have seen traction from early-stage investors.

‘White spaces’

The map has also identified eight ‘white spaces’, which have seen investor interest and have the potential to grow into IOAs in five to six years with policy support and private sector participation.

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