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UNDP and Invest India have launched the SDG Investor Map for India, laying out 18 Investment Opportunities Areas (IOAs) in six critical SDG enabling sectors.

Highlights

• It is the first-ever ‘SDG Investor Map for India’.
• This initiative is an instrumental stride in India's development trajectory.
• SDG Finance Facility platform at UNDP in partnership with Invest India, the investment promotion arm of the Government of India has developed this Map.
• The map will help public and private sector stake-holders direct capital towards IOAs, and White Spaces (Areas of Potential) that can contribute to the sustainable development needs of the country.
• The map has 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.
• The observations from the map present a strong case for investing in SDG enabling sectors and IOAs, bridging the gap between high-level development targets and the need for commercially viable returns. 

Significance

• It can help India push the needle forward on Sustainable Development.
• 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.
• Investing in the SDGs at this point is crucial to ‘building back better’ and making the economy and our societies more resilient and sustainable.

Six focus sectors

• Education
• Healthcare
• Agriculture and allied activities
• Financial services,
• Renewable energy and alternatives 
• Sustainable environment

Source: PIB