Rural beats urban in Bihar on spend

Rural Bihar appears to be doing much better than urban areas in the state, if one goes by a recent National Sample Survey Organisation report.

The consumption expenditure of a household in urban Bihar is the least in the country. However, rural households in the state spend more than the average rural consumer.

The national average of urban consumption expenditure stands at Rs 1,052 per month, as against Rs 699 per month for Bihar. The consumption expenditure of rural Bihar stands at Rs 699 per month, higher than the national average of rural consumption expenditure, which is Rs 559 per month. 
 

THE GREAT DIVIDE
Poverty Ranking			Consumption Expenditure Ranking
All India	Rural	Urban	Rural	Urban
Orissa	Orissa	Orissa	Orissa	Bihar
Bihar	Jharkhand	MP	Chhattisgarh	Manipur
Chhattisgarh	Bihar	Chhattisgarh	Jharkhand	Orissa
Jharkhand	Chhattisgarh	Uttarakhand	MP	UP
Uttarakhand	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	Bihar	Tripura	Arunachal Pradesh

The stark difference in the ranking of consumption expenditure in rural and urban populations of various states indicates a greater divide within individual states, according to the survey report on 'Household Consumption of various goods and services in India'.

Looking at states' ranking on the basis of consumption expenditure of rural and urban populations, Orissa is the only state that appears on both the lists.

Interestingly, states like Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh, which are not among the top five poverty ridden states, found their place in the bottom five in terms of urban consumption expenditure. Experts blame the price difference between urban and rural markets for this.

"India is not an integrated market. Even within some states, there is a huge price difference in urban and rural areas. That could be the reason why in some states consumption expenditure in urban areas is less," said Pronab Sen, chief statistician of India.