India's per capita income increases to Rs 33,283

India's per capita income increases to Rs 33,283: CSO

New Delhi (PTI): Backed by robust economic growth, India's per capita income has increased to Rs 33,283 in 2007-08 indicating an overall improvement in the living standards of the people.

Rising by almost 60 per cent since 2003-04, India's per capita income, which indicates what an average person earns, has increased to Rs 33,283 in 2007-08, reveals the quick estimates of national income released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) on Friday.

The country's per capita income, has been growing at an annual rate of over 10 per cent since 2003-04, it said.

According to the data, the per capita income, after taking into account population growth, increased to Rs 33,283 during 2007-08 from Rs 29,524 in the previous fiscal.

The per capita income, increased by 12.7 per cent (at current prices) during 2007-08, while country's population inched up by 1.4 per cent to 1.38 billion by the end of the fiscal.

The double-digit growth in the per capita income during the five successive years comes in the backdrop of impressive economic growth recorded by the country during that period.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate, which was 8.5 per cent in 2003-04, dipped to 7.5 per cent in the next year. However, since 2005-06, India has been recording an economic growth rate of nine per cent or more.

Economy grew by 9.5 per cent in 2005-06 followed by an even higher rate of 9.7 per cent during the next fiscal. Even during 2007-08, which witnessed a deceleration in the growth rate, economy expanded by 9 per cent.

The growth rate, however, is expected to decline to 7 per cent during the current fiscal primarily on account of the impact of the global financial meltdown on the country.

As per the recent projections of the Reserve Bank of India and the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, the growth rate was likely to dip to 7 per cent and 7.1 per cent respectively, during the current fiscal.

I for one, am a bit sceptical about statistics in general and about per capita income in particular, even when based on PPP (Parity Purchasing Power)! This is so because in most cases, this income is not evenly spread among all the "capitas" so to speak. Thus I find it difficult to accept per capita income as an indicator of an overall improvement in a society.

Ya, income never spread evenly,but its just a way to find overall statistics ie. per capita income. In other words, we can call it Average Income.

To work out the per capita income for a particular year, the gross domestic product (GDP) is calculated at current market prices, which includes the element of annual inflation.
The per capita income is arrived at by dividing the GDP over the country’s population. Indian rupee had appreciated considerably in recent months against the dollar, due to the poor health of the US economy. India's per capita income is almost Rs 40,000 ($950) per year, according to the latest figures released by the World Bank. According to the World Bank categories: Nations with per capita income (PCI) less than $935 are 'low income;' nations with PCI from $936 to $3,705 are 'lower middle income;' those with PCI from $3,706 to $11,455 are 'upper middle income;' and those with PCI from $11,456 or more are 'high income.' The Indian people and the government are both quaking with fear with inflation hovering at around 8%. The people can barely make two ends meet with prices soaring, and the government knows that if prices don't fall, the government will. But India is not the only nation grappling with rising inflation. The entire world is.
The per capita income has crossed ‘psychological barrier’ and touched $1,027 during the outgoing fiscal year 2007-08 against $878 in the last financial year in Pakistan. Still one can only see rising prices, and declining quality of life in general. This is why I said that per capita income, in my opinion, while a good indicator of a country's economic direction, is still not a very reliable parameter on which to judge real development, that is sustainable in the medium to long term.

Definitely , that is why I said, per capita income is just a measure but not really something very definitive to decide a nation's progress.
Btw, inflation in India dipped 35 years low to 0.44 recently which is again a problem for country which may grip India too in a full fledged economic crisis.

According to World Bank:
"As of 2005, 85.7% of the population lives on less than $2.50 (PPP) a day, down from 92.5% in 1981. This compares with 80.5% in Sub-Saharan Africa. 75.6% of the population lives on less than $2 a day (PPP), which is around 20 rupees or $0.5 a day in nominal terms. It was down from 86.6% and compares with 73.0% in Sub-Saharan Africa. A 24.3% of the population earned less than $1 (PPP, around $0.25 in nominal terms) a day in 2005, down from 42.1% in 1981. 41.6% of its population is living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 (PPP) per day, down from 59.8% in 1981. The World Bank further estimates that a third of the global poor now reside in India.
Today, more people afford to own a bicycle than ever before. Some 40% of Indian households owns a bicycle, with ownership rates ranging from around 30% to 70% at state level. Housing is still very modest. According to Times of India, "a majority of Indians have per capita space equivalent to or less than a 10 feet x 10 feet room for their living, sleeping, cooking, washing and toilet needs." and "one in every three urban Indians lives in homes too cramped to exceed even the minimum requirements of a prison cell in the US." The average is 103 sq ft per person in rural areas and 117 sq ft per person in urban areas.
Around half of Indian children are malnourished. The proportion of underweight children is nearly double that of Sub-Saharan Africa. However, India has not had famines since the Green Revolution in the early 1970s. While poverty in India has reduced significantly, official figures estimate that 27.5% of Indians still lived below the national poverty line of $1 (PPP, around 10 rupees in nominal terms) a day in 2004-2005. A 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) found that 65% of Indians, or 750 million people, lived on less than 20 rupees per day with most working in "informal labour sector with no job or social security, living in abject poverty." "
Compare this with the statement that:
In the revised 2007 figures, based on increased and sustaining growth, more inflows into foreign direct investment, Goldman Sachs predicts that "from 2007 to 2020, India’s GDP per capita in US$ terms will quadruple", and that the Indian economy will surpass the United States (in US$) by 2043. Despite high growth rate, the report stated that India would continue to remain a low-income country for several decades but can be a "motor for the world economy" if it fulfills its growth potential. Goldman Sachs has outlined 10 things that it needs to do in order to achieve its potential and grow 40 times by 2050. These are 1.improve governance 2.raise educational achievement 3.increase quality and quantity of universities 4.control inflation 5.introduce a credible fiscal policy 6.liberalize financial markets 7.increase trade with neighbours 8.increase agricultural productivity 9.improve infrastructure and 10.improve environmental quality.

Sadly enough, Goldmans Sachs itself has to have a governmental bailout. Still I believe that India needs more than double-digit growth rates to show that it has really come out of the perennial trap of poverty!