For informal-sector planning, the SDGs do not have one standalone goal devoted exclusively to informality. Instead, informal workers, enterprises, street vendors, home-based workers, waste pickers, construction workers, informal settlements, and livelihood spaces are addressed across several goals. The most important are SDGs 1, 5, 8, 10, 11 and 12.

SDG	Relevant target	Connection with informal-sector planning
SDG 1 – No Poverty	1.3 Social protection systems for all	Extending social security and protection to informal workers
	1.4 Equal rights to economic resources, basic services, property and land	Access to workspace, services, land, finance and livelihood infrastructure
	1.5 Resilience of poor and vulnerable groups	Protecting informal workers from disasters, climate events and economic shocks
SDG 5 – Gender Equality	5.4 Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work	Important for women domestic workers and home-based livelihood planning
	5.a Equal rights to economic resources and property	Women’s access to land, finance and productive resources
SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth	8.3 Promote productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship and formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises	One of the most directly relevant targets for informal-sector planning
	8.5 Full and productive employment and decent work for all	Improving livelihood opportunities and working conditions
	8.8 Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments	Safety and occupational protection for informal workers
SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities	10.2 Promote social, economic and political inclusion of all	Inclusion of informal workers in urban governance and planning
	10.3 Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome	Reducing discriminatory exclusion from urban opportunities and services
	10.4 Fiscal, wage and social-protection policies for greater equality	Social security and income protection for informal workers
SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities	11.1 Access to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrading slums	Housing and services for low-income and informal-sector households
	11.2 Safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport for all	Connecting informal workers with employment and markets
	11.3 Inclusive and sustainable urbanization and participatory planning	Central target for integrating informal activities into urban planning
	11.6 Reduce the adverse environmental impact of cities, including waste management	Particularly relevant to waste pickers and informal recycling
	11.7 Universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible public spaces	Important for street vendors, informal markets and livelihood use of public space
SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production	12.5 Reduce waste through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse	Recognition and integration of informal waste pickers/recyclers

The three strongest targets for your topic

If you are developing a framework specifically for informal-sector planning in Indian cities, I would place three targets at its core:

SDG Target 8.3 — Economic/formalization dimension: encourages development-oriented policies supporting productive activities, decent jobs, entrepreneurship and the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises.

SDG Target 11.3 — Spatial/planning dimension: calls for inclusive and sustainable urbanization and participatory, integrated and sustainable human-settlement planning.

SDG Target 10.2 — Equity dimension: calls for the social, economic and political inclusion of everyone irrespective of economic or other status.

Together they can produce a useful research framework:

SDG 8.3 – Livelihood & Formalization
↓
SDG 10.2 – Socio-economic Inclusion
↓
SDG 11.3 – Inclusive Urban Planning
↓
Land & Workspace + Informal Markets + Street Vending + Housing + Mobility + Basic Services
↓
SDG 8.8 – Safe Working Conditions + SDG 11.7 – Inclusive Public Space
↓

Sustainable Informal-Sector Planning

For an Indian planning research paper/thesis, this SDG framework can be integrated very effectively with the Directive Principles of State Policy (Articles 38, 39, 41, 42 and 43), the 74th Constitutional Amendment, Street Vendors Act 2014, National Urban Livelihoods Mission, and city Master/Development Plans to develop measurable indicators for evaluating how well a city accommodates its informal sector.