Bangalore: The best place to live in India

When it comes to choosing the city you would like to work and live in, it seems you cannot have it all. If a city is great for earning and investing in, it is not necessarily the best for living, as in the case of Surat.

On the other hand, there is Kolkata that ranks quite high as a city to live in but is the worst when it comes to making money or investing it.

Your best bet for a city that ranks fairly high on all three counts — living, working and investing — is Bangalore. It ranks as the top city to reside in and second best to earn.

As an investment destination, however, it’s mediocre, ranking sixth. Delhi, by contrast, ranks high — fourth — only for earning.

Analysis of the top 10 cities of the country for earning, investing and residing is given in a study, The City Skyline of India 2006, published by Indicus Analytics.

The study is based on official statistics and online surveys conducted by Indicus in these cities. It yields interesting information on how often a citizen would have to haggle with an autowallah, what percentage of people own invertors, the city’s water and power supply, public transportation etc.

Surat with its low unemployment rates, high job growth rates and one of the highest per capita small business credit is the top destination for seeking jobs and business.

However, it is at the bottom in the list of Alpha cities (the top 10) in terms of good living, with nearly half the people expressing the need for more entertainment and better educational facilities.

It also has the lowest share of households in the top socio-economic category (SEC A) among the Alpha cities. One third of its households fall in SEC C.

Coimbatore strikes a decent balance: it’s the best city to invest in but ranks fifth on the earning and good living front. The most pressing problem for residents seems to be water supply — which comes just once in two days.

On most other counts, the city offers a decent life though with relatively few avenues for entertainment.

With one of the lowest unemployment rates in this group of cities and per capita income comparable to the highest in the group, Pune too does well on all three counts of earn-in, invest-in and reside-in indices.

The metros, interestingly, are not the best performers in this list. Chennai is high up as a place to invest in and to live in.

The citizens are satisfied with the educational infrastructure, low crime level and efficient management of infrastructure. But with unemployment rate as high as 27%, do not head there if you are looking to earn good money.

Source : Times of India