The Rangarajan Panel on the measurement of poverty reported to the Central government that three out of ten Indians are poor and also stated that people spending below Rupees 47 in cities are considered as poor while in rural areas the poverty line is Rs 32.

With the Rangarajan panel report the number of India's poor may rise by 100 million i.e, a total of 363 million or 29.6 percent people. India's poverty estimates are based on consumption expenditure surveys done by the National Sample Survey Office.

The Suresh Tendulkar Committee which was appointed by the UPA government claimed that people living on less than Rs. 27 a day rural areas and Rs. 33 a day in urban areas as poor. This drew criticism from all over forcing the government to revisit the methodology of calculating the poor. The Rangarajan panel was appointed in 2012 and According to this panel report the number of poor declined from 454.6 million in 2009-10 to 363 million in 2011-12 and the poverty ratio from 38.2% to 29.5% in the same period.

(AW: Vamshi)