Benchmark-based prioritizing sustainable consumption and production practices for achieving SDG 12 in India: A multi-criteria decision-making approach

• A hybrid Grey Delphi–Grey DEMATEL framework prioritizes SCP practices in India. • Twelve critical SCP practices validated by sustainability experts are identified. • Circular economy, partnerships, and life cycle assessment emerge as key drivers. • Dependent practices include green procurement, urban planning, and education. • Framework provides actionable insights for targeted SDG 12 interventions. This study prioritizes sustainable consumption and production (SCP) practices to advance SDG 12 in India by employing a hybrid Grey Delphi–Grey DEMATEL framework. Twelve SCP practices identified through a comprehensive literature review were assessed by ten sustainability experts, with Grey Delphi confirming their relevance and Grey DEMATEL mapping the causal structure and influence dynamics within the system. The results show that circular economy practices, multi-stakeholder partnerships, and life cycle assessment function as core driving practices that exert substantial influence on the broader SCP landscape, while sustainable supply chain management, consumption education, urban planning, and green procurement appear as dependent practices shaped by these drivers. By integrating expert judgment and uncertainty-aware analytical techniques, the study provides a structured and replicable decision-support approach that assists policymakers, industry stakeholders, and practitioners in prioritizing impactful SCP interventions tailored to India’s socio-economic context, thereby supporting more effective progress toward sustainable development.