Fewer poor in rural India but some living on 73c a day

THE average household in rural India spends just 43 rupees (73 cents) per head a day, with their urban equivalents consuming almost double.

iThe latest study from the National Sample Survey Office, a huge undertaking every two years, shows that average monthly per capita expenditure for a rural household was just 1281 rupees compared with 2401 rupees in cities.

The poorest 10 per cent in rural areas - a grouping of about 80 million people - get by on just 503 rupees on average a month, or just 17 rupees a day, according to preliminary data from the survey.

Despite the low absolute numbers, there were sharp increases in household expenditure in 2011-12 compared with 2009-10, with rural families seemingly benefiting as much as their urban equivalents from rising incomes.

Average per capita spending in rural areas rose 38 per cent over the last two years in current prices - without adjusting for India's high inflation - and 18 per cent on an adjusted basis.

About 70 per cent of India's 1.2-billion population live in villages, according to UN data from 2011.  (AFP)