Kolkata: There are five states in the country which have surpassed the per capita income threshold set by the World Bank for determining an upper-middle
income economy. This stands in sharp contrast to the country as a whole since which is still a lower-middle income economy. It indicates that some states have generated a rise in terms of income that they have broken ahead significantly of the income bracket of the entire country. According to news reports, five Indian states have crossed the World Bank’s income threshold based on per capita income. However, economically the most powerful state is not on list. On the other hand, three states including Maharashtra missed the income level by only a few dollars. Let’s have a closer look at the different states.
The famous five
The country’s capital is at the forefront of the states that have moved ahead of the World Bank’s threshold. Delhi has a per capita income of $6,217. In the next fouor places are Karnataka with a per capita income of $5,579, Telangana with $5,407, Tamil Nadu with $5,329 and Gujarat with $4,734. The per capita income threshold for upper-middle income economies is $4,636.
Maharashtra, Haryana and Kerala are close
While the above five made it to the list, three major states including the one with the biggest economic muscle missed the list narrowly. Maharashtra’s per capita income was $4,628 — only $8 dollars less than the threshold. Per capita income of Haryana was $4,627 dollars — only $9 less, while Kerala’s was $4,610 dollars, which is just 26 dollars below the limit.
Many states have taken big leaps
In 1994, none of India’s major states were in the middle-income category according to current World Bank standards. Today, the per capita income of many states has reached the level of economies like South Africa ($6,270), Fiji ($6,230) and Mongolia ($6,210). At the same time, the per capita income of Karnataka and Telangana is higher than Indonesia ($5,120) and Vietnam ($4,970).
Bihar remains the poorest big state in terms of per capita income which stood at $984. It is followed by Uttar Pradesh ($1,403) and Jharkhand ($1,470).
The categories set by World Bank
World Bank data suggests that economies with a per capita income of less than $1,175 are categorised as low-income while those with per capita income between $1,175 and $4,635 are classified as lower-middle income and countries with per capita income above $14,375 are classified as high-income.
