Bihar’s Per Capita Income Growth Rate Higher Than National Average

There is a lot of curiosity about Bihar Assembly elections in the country. This time the residents of Bihar are comparing 15 years of Lalu Prasad Yadav-rule with 15 years of Nitish Kumar.

Data show that the Bihar’s per capita income has increased more than national per capita income in the last 5 years, but is still so low that Bihar comes among the poorest states of the country.

According to government figures, in 2015-16, where India’s per capita was Rs 77,659, it increased in 2016-17 to Rs 83,003, an increase of 6.88%. In comparison, Bihar’s per capita in 2015-16 was Rs 24,064, which increased to Rs 25,820 the next year, an increase of 7.29%.

Similarly, in the next year 2017-18, the per capita income in India rose to Rs 87,828, an increase of 5.81%. During this period, the Bihar’s per capita income reached Rs 26,699, an increase of 3.40%. In the year 2018-19, where India’s per capita income increased by 4.84%, per capita income in Bihar grew by 7.37%.

Next year in 2019-20, India’s capita income rose by 3.11% to Rs 94,954; in Bihar, the per capita income grew by 9.13% to Rs 31,287. Simply put, the income of people of Bihar increased more than the national income, but in reality, they had very little money in their pockets.

The Planning Commission 2011-2012 report states that the poorest people in the country live in Uttar Pradesh where 538 out of per lakh population live below poverty. Bihar is at number two where 358 people per lakh population are below the poverty line. In this report, every person who is considered poor spends Rs 816 in rural areas and less than Rs 1000 in urban areas.

Bihar, simply, could not grow as fast as it could in the last 30 years.