By Jaideep Sarin, IANS,
Chandigarh : Chandigarh has managed to best its own record of being the richest among all states and union territories in the country, with its per capita income crossing the Rs.100,000 mark.
The advance quick estimates of Chandigarh reveal that its per capita income has increased to Rs.110,676 in 2007-08. The quick estimates have been prepared by the directorate of economics and statistics of the administration here.
The per capita income of the clean, green city has more than doubled in the last eight years – in 2000, the per capita income of the city was only Rs.44,502.
Chandigarh’s per capita income reached a high of Rs.99,262 at current prices in 2006-07. This was way ahead of the country’s per capita earnings of nearly Rs.30,000. Goa was second in all-India rankings, with nearly Rs.83,000.
Spread over 114 sq km and home to nearly 1.1 million residents, the Union Territory of Chandigarh – the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana – has already been declared by a poll last year as “India’s most livable city”.
The city, designed by French architect Le Corbusier, was founded in the early 1950s to showcase a modern and resurgent, independent India. It is the only planned city in India.
The increase in average earning in the city has been achieved despite one-third of the city’s population being that of migrants, many of them living in illegal slum colonies. Nearly 35 percent of the city’s residents are from the salaried class – many of them in government jobs.
“The higher per capita income can be attributed to Chandigarh opening its doors to new things – the IT sector, financial sector and services sectors like tourism. Chandigarh has always been home to educated people and they now have more purchasing power also,” Vivek Atray, the Chandigarh director for tourism and public relations, told IANS.
Chandigarh has emerged as a big hub in the region for the IT, education and other commercial sectors.
Even though the industrial sector here has not done much, land meant for industrial use is being converted for use in the services sector like shopping malls, hotels, multiplexes and automobile plazas under a liberal conversion policy adopted here.
Infosys, DLF, Parsvnath and other software, property and investment companies have already invested in the city.
“I think that besides other factors, the basic Punjabi competitive spirit also has a lot to do with the increased per capita income in this city. Here, people want to compete with each other and hence earn better,” leading income tax consultant Parveen Aneja told IANS.
One notable trend witnessed by the city in recent years pertains to the change from primary and secondary sectors to the tertiary sector.
While contribution from the primary sector like agriculture was negligible (0.55 percent in 2008), the secondary sector (manufacturing, construction and others) remained stagnant at around 23 percent over the previous years.
The growth for the city was in the tertiary sector at a whopping 79 percent. This sector comprises hotels and tourism industry, financial services, IT and software and real estate.