Urban India is more up to debt with its loans

The incidence of indebtedness in urban households has declined to 17.8 per cent in June 2002, as against 19 per cent in 1991. On the other hand, the incidence of indebtedness for rural households went up to 26.5 per cent from 23 per cent in 1991, a National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report released today said.

Urban households have more outstanding debt compared with those in the rural areas. According to the "Household Indebtedness in India" report based on the All India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS) carried out between January and December 2003 by the NSSO, every rural household had an average debt of Rs 7,536, compared with Rs 11,770 for an urban household at the end of June 2002.

Higher total outstanding loans in rural areas can be attributed to more rural households taking loans.