C2S #7: How Sustainable Is India’s Development? A Scientific Analysis Using Doughnut Economics

India is the world’s most populous country and one of the fastest‑growing major economies. Millions still live in poverty, while cities expand, infrastructure booms and renewable energy capacity surges. At the same time, pollution and environmental pressures are rising. How sustainable is India’s development today? Where does it stand compared to the global average, how have key indicators changed over time, and what do current trends imply for the future? This video answers these questions with a scientific, data‑driven analysis using the Doughnut Economics framework. The model combines the Planetary Boundaries that define a safe operating space for humanity with social foundations that ensure basic human needs and a just society. Using national and global datasets on key ecological and social indicators the video maps India’s current state of sustainable development. Expert interviews with researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras help interpret the numbers and put them into historical and policy context, including the legacies of colonial resource extraction and the potential of indigenous practices. Special thanks go to Dr Krishna Malakar for her guidance in this project as well as to Prof. Sachin S. Gunthe, Prof. Ligy Philip, Dr. Charuta Kulkarni, Prof. Rajnish Kumar, Prof. Santosh Kumar Sahu, Prof. Sudhir Chella Rajan, Prof. John Bosco Lourdusamy for their contribution to this video, to Sebastian Kammermayer for his support and feedback, to Anukanksha Mohanty for helping with the recording and to Marvin Balonier for the support in the production! Chapters: 00:00 Introduction: Why India matters for Global Sustainability 01:29 Development is more than GDP growth: Planetary Boudaries and Doughnut Economics 05:04 India’s diverse context: Society, Economy, History and Environment 07:29 Performance on Planetary Boundaries: CO2 emissions 10:11 Water use, Biodiversity loss, Chemical pollution and Waste generation 13:38 Deforestation, Fertilizer application and Air pollution 15:56 Verdict on the environmental performance: Worsening trend and mixed global comparison 19:55 Developmental performance on basic human needs: Caste, women and employment 22:03 Poverty, Access to clean energy and Inequality regarding Gender, income and wealth 25:16 Public transport and internet connection, Democracy and free speech 27:02 Verdict on the social performance: Unsatisfying state with improving trend and 28:05 Synergy effects, Policy Implementation, Education and Indigenous knowledge 30:52 Balancing economic growth and sustainability Hosts: Shelja and Samuel Balonier Production, visualization, editing: Samuel Balonier Camera: Anukanksha Mohanty and Samuel Balonier Contact: compass2sustainability@gmail.com Spotify channel: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Yriirx... Images: OpenPlanet.org If you are interested in what development means in the 21st century here are some further reading recommendations: Sen, A. (1999) Development as Freedom. 1st. ed. New York: Knopf. Raworth, K. (2017) “A Doughnut for the Anthropocene: humanity’s compass in the 21st century,” The Lancet Planetary Health, 1(2), pp. e48–e49. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(17.... Send us an email if you are interested in the methods used for this project! All data sources and licences are listed here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y... #India #Sustainability #DoughnutEconomics #PlanetaryBoundaries #Development #ClimateChange