Chandigarh, December 5
Holding their record for the highest per capita income for the third consecutive year, Chandigarhians earn almost two times more than their counterparts in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.

The Central Statistics Organisation in its latest report ( 2005-06) tabled in Parliament yesterday by Pawan Bansal, the Union Minister of State for Finance, puts the annual income of a Chandigarhian at Rs 67,910 against the all-India gross domestic product (GDP) average of Rs 20734.

Delhi comes next with per capita income of Rs 49,172 followed by Goa - Rs 47,507 and Puducherry - Rs 36,397.

Rajasthan is perhaps the only state where the per capita income has come down from Rs 15,737 in 2003-04 to Rs 15,219 in 2005-06.

Bihar continues to occupy the lowest position with per capita income of Rs 6,610.

Interestingly, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana are in the same bracket with average per capita income varying between Rs 26,000 and Rs 30,000.

Interestingly, Chandigarh has been topping the list since 2003-04.

Haryana’s per capita income for 2005-06 has been quoted at Rs 29,887, up from Rs 26,353 in 2003-04. In case of Punjab it has gone up from Rs 26,975 (2003-04) to Rs 28,605 while in Himachal it has increased from Rs 24,480 to Rs 27,162.

Goa, like other smaller states and Union territories, has been in the top seven with its per capita income shooting up from Rs 42,205 in 2003-4 to Rs 47,507 in 2005-6. Though the CSO did not release the figures for cosmopolitan cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalaru and Kolkatta, the report is indicative of the economic growth-taking place in various states and union territories of the country.

It would be interesting to compare the growth of per capita income to per capita debt in the country where states like Punjab, Haryana and Andhra figure high on the list.