ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the study of India's march toward sustainable development (SD), including other millennium goals, carried out at two levels—conceptual and empirical. SD stands for simultaneous protection of natural environment and promotion of human welfare and well-being. SD is the process of planning and implementation of ecologically sustainable economic development policies that facilitate meeting the basic needs of all the people of the present and future generations. Natural scientists say that all ecosystems are characterized by five features: integrity, complexity, stability, diversity, and resilience. SD is treated as a key concept in social sciences and as a challenging process in governance everywhere. As a concept, SD signifies human endeavors for the realization of the development ideals and goals of intergenerational equity, intergenderal equity, and intranational and international equity. As a multidimensional concept, SD entails ecological, socioeconomic, and politicocultural sustainability.
