Mathematical modeling of sustainable development goals of India agenda 2030: a Neutrosophic programming approach

Abstract

Since 2015, the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) agenda 2030 has been designed with 17 goals, 169 targets, and 232 unique indicators to help address environmental, development, and sustainability issues globally. India, like other developing nations, desired to achieve its vision 2030 targets. Several authors studied India’s SDGs with different approaches. However, none of the studies explores the concept of neutrosophic programming (NP). It is against this drawback; this study presents an optimization model for India’s socio-economic and environmental goals based on the NP concept. The NP model is capable of handling indeterminacy in optimization-related problems for which other techniques do not. The formulated models simultaneously optimized the gross domestic product (GDP) growth, electricity consumption, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The solutions revealed that the degree of satisfaction for the goals related to GDP, electricity consumption, and GHG emissions could be achieved partially. Also, it suggested the required optimal number of employment for each economic sector to achieve India’s vision 2030. The SDGs model was further solved with the goal programming (GP) technique and compared with the NP results to validate the proposed concept. It has been found that the proposed model gives a better compromise solution than the GP model. The study can help and guide policymakers in working toward vision 2030 attaintment. Other interested researchers can use the concept in other countries to help decision-makers understand managerial policy implications.