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India's top cities with highest household income

Last updated on: February 21, 2011 09:35 IST
Kailash Temple in the Ellora Caves in Aurangabad.

Jalandhar, Aurangabad and Agra may be smaller in size than many Indian cities, but household earnings in these places are much more than the urban average across the country, says a new survey.

"Jalandhar, Aurangabad, Bhubhaneshwar, Agra and Raipur are among the 'cities of opportunities'.

The households in these cities earn more than India's average urban household," according to a Morgan Stanley research report, titled, "AlphaWise City Vibrancy Index: A Guide to India's Urbanisation."

As per the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the quarterly average household income is about $1,009 (Rs 45,000) per quarter, per urban household across the country, whereas these 'cities of opportunities' have a quarterly average household income of above Rs 65,000.

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India's top cities with highest household income

Last updated on: February 21, 2011 09:35 IST
Mysore Palace.

Rank 2: Mysore

Interestingly, second-tier city Mysore stood second, while Mumbai stood at 21st position among the country's top 50 cities in terms of quarterly earnings.

While tourism is the major industry in Mysore, the growth of information technology related industryhas resulted in the city emerging as the second largest software exporter in Karnataka, next to Bengaluru.

Traditionally, Mysore has been home to industries such as weaving, sandalwood carving, bronzework, and the production of lime and salt.

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India's top cities with highest household income

Last updated on: February 21, 2011 09:35 IST
Infosys campus, Pune.

Rank 3: Pune

As one of the largest cities in India, Pune is emerging as a prominent location for IT and manufacturing companies.

Auto companies like Tata Motors, Mercedes Benz, Force Motors (Firodia-Group), Kinetic Motors have manufacturing base in Pune.

Companies like General Motors, Volkswagen, and Fiat have set up greenfield facilities near Pune, leading British newspaper The Independent to refer to Pune as India's 'Motor City'.

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India's top cities with highest household income

Last updated on: February 21, 2011 09:35 IST
Inside the Salar Jung Meseum, Hyderabad.

Rank 4: Hyderabad

Starting in the 1990s, the economic pattern of the city has changed from being a primarily service city to being one with a more diversified spectrum, including trade, transport, commerce, storage, communication etc.

However, the service industry remains the major contributor, with urban workforce constituting 90 per cent of the total workforce.

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India's top cities with highest household income

Last updated on: February 21, 2011 09:35 IST
Dell, Chandigarh.

Rank 5: Chandigarh

The government is a major employer in Chandigarh.

The important industries are paper manufacturing, basic metals and alloys and machinery.

Other industries are related to food products, sanitary ware, auto parts, machine tools, pharmaceuticals and electrical appliances.

Chandigarh has a well developed market and banking infrastructure.

Chandigarh IT Park (also Chandigarh Technology Park) is the city's attempt to break into the IT world.

The city is the base for sourcing supplies for the Leh - Laddakh and Siachen region of defence operations.

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India's top cities with highest household income

Last updated on: February 21, 2011 09:35 IST
Phoenix Mall, Meerut.

Rank 6: Meerut

Meerut is famous as an industrial city. It is also famous for handloom works and sccisors industry.

The other industries are textile, transformer, sugar, distillery, chemical, engineering, paper, sports goods.

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India's top cities with highest household income

Last updated on: February 21, 2011 09:35 IST
Central Rail Station, Chennai.

Rank 7: Chennai

According to Forbes magazine, Chennai is one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

It has a diversified economic base anchored by the automobile, software services, hardware manufacturing, healthcare and financial services industries.

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India's top cities with highest household income

Last updated on: February 21, 2011 09:35 IST
The Lotus Temple, Delhi.

Rank 8: Delhi

Delhi's large consumer market, coupled with the easy availability of skilled labour, has attracted foreign investment.

Construction, power, telecommunications, health and community services, and real estate form integral parts of Delhi's economy.

Delhi has India's largest and one of the fastest growing retail industries.

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India's top cities with highest household income

Last updated on: February 21, 2011 09:35 IST
The Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram.

Rank 9: Thiruvananthapuram

Since the establishment of the Technopark in 1995, Thiruvananthapuram has steadily grown into a competitive IT centre.

Technopark houses global majors like IBS Software Services, NeST Software, Infosys, TCS, McKinsey , Ernst & Young Global Shared Services Center, Allianz Cornhill, Tata Elxsi, UST Global, SunTec Business Solutions etc.

The park has around 195 companies employing over 30,000 professionals.

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India's top cities with highest household income

Last updated on: February 21, 2011 09:35 IST
Sula Vineyard, Nashik.

Rank 10: Nashik

Nashik today is one of the fastest growing cities of India and has even been identified as a tier-1 metro.

The city's economy is driven chiefly by the engineering and manufacturing industry.

It is also a pharmaceutical hub with the presence of GlaxoSmithKline and Fem. In recent years, Nasik has also carved a niche for itself as India's 'Napa Valley' and locally established wine brands such as 'Sula' and 'Zampa' have attained international acclaim.

Nashik has a number of sugar mills. It is also chief exporter of white onions and pomegranates.

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India's top cities with highest household income

Last updated on: February 21, 2011 09:35 IST
Vidhan Soudha, Bengaluru.

According to the AlphaWise City Vibrancy Index, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune are the most vibrant cities among the top 50 cities in India.

"Urbanisation is a core component to the process of city formation and building out India's competitive strength in the global markets," said Ridham Desai, head of India Research and India Strategist at Morgan Stanley.

"The India urbanisation findings underscore our commitment to putting clients at the forefront of the most timely investment debates."

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India's top cities with highest household income

Last updated on: February 21, 2011 09:35 IST
Taj Mahal, Agra.

Additional highlights from the survey are: