2famrtf at 19:03, 27 February 2026

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2021-08-27T06:51:43Z

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{{Use Indian English|date=October 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
'''The Standard of Living in India''' varies from state to state. In 2019, the poverty line reduced further to about 2.7%<ref name="worldpoverty.io">https://worldpoverty.io/</ref> and India no longer holds the position of the nation with the largest population under poverty.<ref name="washingtonpost.com">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/07/10/india-is-no-longer-home-to-the-largest-number-of-poor-people-in-the-world-nigeria-is/</ref> The Indian middle class constitutes 600 million of the population.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-41264072|title=Is India's middle class actually poor?|last=Biswas|first=Soutik|date=15 November 2017|access-date=9 April 2019|language=en-GB}}</ref>

There is significant income inequality within India, as it is simultaneously home to the some of the world's richest people.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Issues/Driving-growth/Middle-class-growth-in-emerging-markets---China-and-India-tomorrow-s-middle-classes |title=Archived copy |access-date=7 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090932/http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Issues/Driving-growth/Middle-class-growth-in-emerging-markets---China-and-India-tomorrow-s-middle-classes |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The average wages are estimated to quadruple between 2013 and 2030.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/average-wages-in-india-could-quadruple-by-2030-pwc-report/article5186360.ece|title=Average wages in India could quadruple by 2030: PwC report|work=thehindu.com}}</ref>

The standard of living in India shows large geographical disparity as well. For example, on one hand most metropolitan cities boast world-class medical establishments, luxurious hotels, sports facilities and leisure activities similar to that of first world developed nations, while there is widespread poverty in rural areas of India, where medical care tends to be very basic or unavailable. Similarly, the very latest machinery may be used in most construction projects, but some construction workers work without mechanization in some projects.<ref>[http://www.sewaresearch.org/pdf/researches/labouring_brick_by_brick.pdf Labouring Brick by Brick: A Study of Construction Workers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705011010/http://www.sewaresearch.org/pdf/researches/labouring_brick_by_brick.pdf |date=5 July 2010 }} – www.sewa.org</ref> However, a rural middle class is now emerging in India, with some rural areas seeing increasing prosperity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/487357/rural-areas-see-middle-class.html|title=Rural areas see middle class rise|website=Deccan Herald}}</ref>

As per the [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]]'s World Economic Outlook for 2020, the per capita PPP-adjusted GDP for [[India]] was estimated to be US$9,027.<ref name="IMF">{{Cite web|url=https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2019/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=80&pr.y=11&sy=2020&ey=2024&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C668%2C914%2C672%2C612%2C946%2C614%2C137%2C311%2C546%2C213%2C674%2C911%2C676%2C314%2C548%2C193%2C556%2C122%2C678%2C912%2C181%2C313%2C867%2C419%2C682%2C513%2C684%2C316%2C273%2C913%2C868%2C124%2C921%2C339%2C948%2C638%2C943%2C514%2C686%2C218%2C688%2C963%2C518%2C616%2C728%2C223%2C836%2C516%2C558%2C918%2C138%2C748%2C196%2C618%2C278%2C624%2C692%2C522%2C694%2C622%2C962%2C156%2C142%2C626%2C449%2C628%2C564%2C228%2C565%2C924%2C283%2C233%2C853%2C632%2C288%2C636%2C293%2C634%2C566%2C238%2C964%2C662%2C182%2C960%2C359%2C423%2C453%2C935%2C968%2C128%2C922%2C611%2C714%2C321%2C862%2C243%2C135%2C248%2C716%2C469%2C456%2C253%2C722%2C642%2C942%2C643%2C718%2C939%2C724%2C734%2C576%2C644%2C936%2C819%2C961%2C172%2C813%2C132%2C726%2C646%2C199%2C648%2C733%2C915%2C184%2C134%2C524%2C652%2C361%2C174%2C362%2C328%2C364%2C258%2C732%2C656%2C366%2C654%2C144%2C336%2C146%2C263%2C463%2C268%2C528%2C532%2C923%2C944%2C738%2C176%2C578%2C534%2C537%2C536%2C742%2C429%2C866%2C433%2C369%2C178%2C744%2C436%2C186%2C136%2C925%2C343%2C869%2C158%2C746%2C439%2C926%2C916%2C466%2C664%2C112%2C826%2C111%2C542%2C298%2C967%2C927%2C443%2C846%2C917%2C299%2C544%2C582%2C941%2C474%2C446%2C754%2C666%2C698&s=PPPPC&grp=0&a=|title=World Economic Outlook – GDP per capita|date=October 2019|work=International Monetary Fund|access-date=30 March 2020}}</ref>

== Poverty ==
{{Main|Poverty in India}}
24.3% of the population earned less than US$1 (PPP, around US$0.25 in nominal terms) a day in 2005, down from 42.1% in 1981.<ref name="WorldBankPoverty">{{cite web|url=http://econ.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64165259&piPK=64165421&theSitePK=469372&menuPK=64166093&entityID=000158349_20080826113239|title=The developing world is poorer than we thought, but no less successful in the fight against poverty|publisher=World Bank|year=2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090323214139/http://econ.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64165259&piPK=64165421&theSitePK=469372&menuPK=64166093&entityID=000158349_20080826113239|archive-date=23 March 2009}}</ref><ref name="business-standard.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=332669|title=India has fewer poor people: World Bank|newspaper=Business Standard}}</ref> 41.6% of its population (540 million people approx.) is living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 (PPP) per day, down from 59.8% in 1981.<ref name="WorldBankPoverty"/> India, in 2019 has about 2.7%<ref name="worldpoverty.io"/> population under poverty level and is no longer holding the largest population under poverty level, considering Nigeria and Congo.<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/>
On the other hand, the [[Planning Commission (India)|Planning Commission]] of India uses its own criteria and has estimated that 27.5% of the population was living below the [[poverty line]] in 2004–2005, down from 51.3% in 1977–1978, and 36% in 1993–1994.<ref>[http://www.planningcommission.gov.in/news/prmar07.pdf Poverty estimates for 2004–05], Planning commission, [[Government of India]], March 2007. Accessed: 25 August 2007</ref> The source for this was the 61st round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) and the criterion used was monthly per capita consumption expenditure below {{INR}} 356.35 for rural areas and {{INR}} 538.60 for urban areas. 75% of the poor are in rural areas, most of them are [[wage|daily wagers]], self-employed householders and landless labourers.

Although The Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades, its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas.<ref name="World bank 2006">{{cite web |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/DPR_FullReport.pdf |title=Inclusive Growth and Service delivery: Building on India's Success |publisher=[[World Bank]]|year=2006 |access-date=28 April 2007}}</ref> For the year 2015–16, the GSDP growth rates of [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Bihar]] and [[Madhya Pradesh]] was higher than [[Maharashtra]], [[Odisha]] or [[Punjab, India|Punjab]].<ref>{{cite news|title=AP stands 1st in India in GSDP growth rate |url=http://m.timesofindia.com/city/hyderabad/AP-stands-1st-in-India-in-GSDP-growth-rate/articleshow/52709609.cms |newspaper =[[The Times of India]] |access-date =13 April 2017}}</ref>

Since the early 1950s, successive governments have implemented various schemes, under [[Planned economy|planning]], to alleviate poverty, that have met with partial success. Programmes like ''Food for work'' and ''National Rural Employment Programme'' have attempted to use the unemployed to generate productive assets and build rural infrastructure.<ref name="survey">{{cite web|title=Economic Survey 2004–2005|url=http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2004-05/esmain.htm| access-date = 15 July 2006}}</ref> In August 2005, the [[Parliament of India|Indian parliament]] passed the ''Rural Employment Guarantee Bill'', the largest programme of this type, in terms of cost and coverage, which promises 100 days of minimum wage employment to every rural household in 200 of [[Districts of India|India's 600 districts]].  The Indian government is planning to bring in more economic reforms which can help farmers and unskilled labourers transition into industrialised sectors.

{{see also|List of Indian states by life expectancy at birth}}

== Physical infrastructure ==
{{Main|Transport in India|Water supply and sanitation in India}}
[[Image:DelhiMetro.jpg|thumb|right|Pictured here, is the [[New Delhi Metro]], operational since 2002 and seen as a model for other metros.]]
Since independence, India has allocated nearly half of the total outlay of the five-year plans for [[infrastructure|infrastructural]] development. Much of the total outlay was spent on large projects in the area of irrigation, energy, transport, communications and social overheads. Development of infrastructure was completely in the hands of the public sector and was plagued by corruption, bureaucratic inefficiencies, urban-bias and an inability to scale investment.<ref name="infra">{{cite book | author=Sankaran, S | title=Indian Economy: Problems, Policies and Development | publisher=Margham Publications | year=1994 | id=ISBN}}</ref>
[[Kolkata]] was the first city in India to boast of a metro-system. The government has partially opened up infrastructure to the private sector allowing foreign investment. India holds second position in the world in roadways' construction.

As of 2018, there were an estimated 18,170,000 broadband lines in India. The country boasts the second highest number of internet users at 446.75 million which translates to around 35% of the country's population. <ref>{{Cite web|title=India - The World Factbook|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/india/|access-date=2021-05-11|website=www.cia.gov}}</ref>

A 2007 study by the Asian Development Bank showed that in 20 cities the average duration of water supply was only 4.3 hours per day. No city had a continuous water supply. The longest duration of supply was 12 hours per day in [[Chandigarh]], and the lowest was 0.3 hours per day in [[Rajkot]].<ref name=ADB2007>{{cite book|title=2007 Benchmarking and Data Book of Water Utilities in India|date=2007|publisher=[[Asian Development Bank]]|isbn=978-971-561-648-5|page=3|url=http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/27970/2007-indian-water-utilities-data-book.pdf}}</ref>

A study by [[WaterAid]] estimated as many as 157 million Indians live without adequate sanitation. India comes top for having the greatest number of urbanites living without sanitation.<ref>{{cite web | title=Overflowing Cities: 157 Million Indians Still Without Toilets| url=https://international.thenewslens.com/article/55250| access-date=27 November 2016}}</ref>

== Regional imbalance ==
{{Main|Administrative divisions of India}}
One of the critical problems facing India's economy is the sharp and growing regional variations among India's different states and territories in terms of per capita income, poverty, availability of infrastructure and socio-economic development. For instance, the difference in growth rate between the [[List of Indian states and union territories by GDP|forward and backward states]] was 0.3% (5.2% & 4.9%) during 1980–81 to 1990–91, but had grown to 3.3% (6.3% & 3.0%) during 1990–91 to 1997–98.<ref name="Datt-13">{{cite book |author1=Datt, Ruddar |author2=Sundharam, K.P.M. |name-list-style=amp | title=Indian Economy | pages = 471–472 | chapter = 27}}</ref>

The five-year plans have attempted to reduce regional disparities by encouraging industrial development in the interior regions, but industries still tend to concentrate around urban areas and port cities. Even the industrial townships in the interiors, [[Bhilai]] for instance, resulted in very little development in the surrounding areas.<ref name="bharadwaj-1">{{cite book | author=Bharadwaj, Krishna | year=1991 | chapter = Regional differentiation in India | editor=Sathyamurthy, T.V. | title = Industry & agriculture in India since independence | pages=189–199 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=0-19-564394-1}}</ref> After liberalisation, the disparities have grown despite the efforts of the union government in reducing them. Part of the reason being that manufacturing and services and not agriculture are the engines of growth. The more advanced states are better placed to benefit from them, with infrastructure like well developed ports, urbanisation and an educated and skilled workforce which attract manufacturing and service sectors. The union and state governments of backward regions are trying to reduce the disparities by offering tax holidays, cheap land, etc., and focusing more on sectors like tourism, which although being geographically and historically determined, can become a source of growth and is faster to develop than other sectors.<ref name="understanding-2">{{cite journal |author1=Sachs, D. Jeffrey |author2=Bajpai, Nirupam |author3=Ramaiah, Ananthi |name-list-style=amp |title=Understanding Regional Economic Growth in India |year=2002 |version=Working paper 88 |url=http://www2.cid.harvard.edu/cidwp/088.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701042205/http://www2.cid.harvard.edu/cidwp/088.pdf |archive-date=1 July 2007}}</ref><ref name="planning-2">{{cite web | author=Kurian, N.J. | title=Regional disparities in india | url=http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/sereport/ser/vision2025/regdsprty.doc | access-date=6 August 2005 }}</ref>
{{See also|List of Indian states and union territories by GDP}}
==Material prosperity==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
| '''Product'''
| '''Percentage of household ownership'''
|-
| Air Conditioner
| 5%<ref>{{Cite web|last=AFP|date=2018-12-04|title=How India’s expected AC explosion will make world hotter|url=https://www.livemint.com/Politics/4kjGaYOUa27mUkZsYcGt0J/How-Indias-expected-AC-explosion-will-make-the-world-hotter.html|access-date=2021-08-27|website=mint|language=en}}</ref>
|-
| Refrigerator
| 33%<ref>{{Cite web|title=India: refrigerator market penetration rate 2009-2020|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/857117/india-refrigerator-market-penetration-rate/|access-date=2021-08-27|website=Statista|language=en}}</ref>
|-
| Microwave
| 4%<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pandit|first=Virendra|title=Panasonic sees growth in microwave oven market|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/panasonic-sees-growth-in-microwave-oven-market/article8924913.ece|access-date=2021-08-27|website=@businessline|language=en}}</ref>
|-
| Television
| 77%<ref>{{Cite web|title=India: penetration rate of home appliances|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/370635/household-penetration-home-appliances-india/|access-date=2021-08-27|website=Statista|language=en}}</ref>
|-
| Washing Machine
| 13%<ref>{{Cite web|title=India: penetration rate of home appliances|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/370635/household-penetration-home-appliances-india/|access-date=2021-08-27|website=Statista|language=en}}</ref>
|-
| PC
| 11% <ref>{{Cite web|title=India: Online|url=https://www.cbgaindia.org/blog/indian-education-cant-go-online-8-homes-young-members-computer-net-link/#:~:text=While%2024%25%20Indians%20own%20a,has%20been%20haphazard%20and%20exclusionary.|access-date=2021-08-27|website=cbgaindia.org|language=en-in}}</ref>
|-
| Smartphone
| 54%<ref>%{{Cite web|title=India—Smartphone Penetration & Users|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1229799/india-smartphone-penetration-rate/#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20the%20penetration%20rate,mobile%20subscribers%20were%20using%20smartphone.|access-date=2021-07-18|website=Statista|language=en-us}}</ref>
|-
| Car
| 2.2%<ref>{{Cite web|title=22 cars per 1000 individuals in India:-NITI Aayog|url=https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/passenger-vehicle/cars/india-has-22-cars-per-1000-individuals-amitabh-kant/67059021|access-date=2021-07-18|website=Auto Economic Times—India Times|language=en-in}}</ref>
|-
| Two Wheeler
| Almost 33%<ref>{{Cite web|title=One in three households own a Two Wheeler in India–(⅓)|url=https://www.livemint.com/Politics/Yd2EAFIupVHDX0EbUdecsO/One-in-three-households-in-India-owns-a-twowheeler.html|access-date=2021-07-18|website=livemint.in|language=en-in}}</ref>
|-
| Internet
| 45%<ref>{{Cite web|title=Internet Penetration in India|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/792074/india-internet-penetration-rate/|access-date=2021-07-18|website=statista|language=en-in}}</ref>
|
'''By Gender–'''
*{{small|Male- 67%}}
*{{small|Female- 33%}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=India: Online& The Gender Gap of Internet Access|url=https://www.cbgaindia.org/blog/indian-education-cant-go-online-8-homes-young-members-computer-net-link/|access-date=2021-08-27|website=cbgaindia.org|language=en-in}}</ref>
|}

==See also==
* [[Economy of India]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Life in India}}
{{Social issues in India}}
{{Asia topic|Standard of living in}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Standard Of Living In India}}
[[Category:Economy of India]]
[[Category:Poverty in India]]
[[Category:Standard of living|India]]

Standard of living in India - Revision history

2famrtf at 19:03, 27 February 2026

imported>Ksh.andronexus at 06:51, 27 August 2021