Delhi was the largest city in terms of number of inhabitants in India in 2023.The capital city was estimated to house nearly 33 million people, with Mumbai ranking second that year. India's population estimate was 1.4 billion, ahead of China that same year.

As of 2024, Mumbai had a gross domestic product of 368 billion U.S. dollars, the highest among other major cities in India. It was followed by Delhi with a GDP of around 167 billion U.S. dollars. India’s megacities also boast the highest GDP among other cities in the country. What drives the GDP of India’s megacities? Mumbai is the financial capital of the country, and its GDP growth is primarily fueled by the financial services sector, port-based trade, and the Hindi film industry or Bollywood. Delhi in addition to being the political hub hosts a significant services sector. The satellite cities of Noida and Gurugram amplify the city's economic status. The southern cities of Bengaluru and Chennai have emerged as IT and manufacturing hubs respectively. Hyderabad is a significant player in the pharma and IT industries. Lastly, the western city of Ahmedabad, in addition to its strategic location and ports, is powered by the textile, chemicals, and machinery sectors. Does GDP equal to quality of life? Cities propelling economic growth and generating a major share of GDP is a global phenomenon, as in the case of Tokyo, Shanghai, New York, and others. However, the GDP, which measures the market value of all final goods and services produced in a region, does not always translate to a rise in quality of life. Five of India’s megacities featured in the Global Livability Index, with low ranks among global peers. The Index was based on indicators such as healthcare, political stability, environment and culture, infrastructure, and others.

The demand for commercial real estate space in top seven cities in India stood at 38 million square feet as of 2023. It was the same as previous year.

In India, the share of the population that earned at least the equivalent of the highest 40 percent of global income earners as of 2022 in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms was 41 percent. Hyderabad topped the list with the highest share of middle-class and above category of consumers. Cities from south India topped the list with the first four ranks, followed by the national capital, Delhi.

In 2021, Delhi had the highest metro coverage among major metropolitan cities in India with 12 operational kilometers per one million people. At the same time, Mumbai had the lowest coverage with only 0.5 operational kilometers per one million people. Poor public transportation in many Indian cities was responsible for traffic congestion and air pollution.

Byrnihat was the most polluted city in India in 2024, with an average PM2.5 concentration of nearly 130 micrograms per cubic meter of air (μg/m³). This high level of pollution made the small industrial town on the Assam Meghalaya border the most polluted cities worldwide in 2024. Poor air quality across India India was the fifth-most polluted country in the world in 2024, with an average PM2.5 concentration of 50.6 μg/m³. That same year, the country's capital New Delhi was also the most polluted capital city in the world. Vehicle exhaust and wood burning are some of the main sources of particulate air pollution in India, together with soil, road and construction dust . Impacts of air pollution in India The severe air pollution in India can have detrimental health impacts on the country's population. Fine particle pollutants penetrate deeply in the lungs, causing respiratory problems and can even result in premature death. More than two million deaths are attibuted to air pollution in India every year.

As of September 2024, Mumbai had the highest cost of living among other cities in the country, with an index value of 26.5. Gurgaon, a satellite city of Delhi and part of the National Capital Region (NCR) followed it with an index value of 25.1.  What is cost of living? The cost of living varies depending on geographical regions and factors that affect the cost of living in an area include housing, food, utilities, clothing, childcare, and fuel among others. The cost of living is calculated based on different measures such as the consumer price index (CPI), living cost indexes, and wage price index. CPI refers to the change in the value of consumer goods and services. The wage price index, on the other hand, measures the change in labor services prices due to market pressures. Lastly, the living cost indexes calculate the impact of changing costs on different households. The relationship between wages and costs determines affordability and shifts in the cost of living. Mumbai tops the list Mumbai usually tops the list of most expensive cities in India. As the financial and entertainment hub of the country, Mumbai offers wide opportunities and attracts talent from all over the country. It is the second-largest city in India and has one of the most expensive real estates in the world.

The population in New Delhi was approximately 28.5 million, the most among the leading Indian cities in 2019. Mumbai and Kolkata rounded up the three most populated cities across the country that year.

Mumbai and Delhi-NCR had the highest retail consumption across India as of July 2020. Both cities together accounted for a consumption share of about 12 percent, totaling to nearly 200 billion U.S. dollars. Most of the retail stores were affected during the various phases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown across the country in 2020.

As of September 2024, Pune was the leading Indian city in local purchasing power among other Indian cities, with an index score of over 150. It was followed by Gurgaon and Hyderabad. The local purchasing power index depicts the relative purchasing power of goods and services in a city for the average net salary in that city.

This statistic illustrates the consumption expenditure per capita across the largest cities in India in 2015. The nation capital region, Delhi, had a per capita consumer expenditure of approximately 138,000 Indian rupees. Bangalore had the highest per capita consumption expenditure during the measured time period.

The global per capita expenditure on apparel in 2015 and 2025, broken down by region, can be found here.

As per the Global Liveability Index of 2024, five Indian cities figured on the list comprising 173 across the world. Indian megacities Delhi and Mumbai tied for 141st place with a score of 60.2 out of 100. They were followed by Chennai (59.9), Ahmedabad (58.9), and Bengaluru (58.7). What are indicators for livability The list was topped by Vienna for yet another year. The index measures cities on five broad indicators such as stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. As per the Economic Intelligence Unit’s suggestions, if a city’s livability score is between 50 to 60 then “livability is substantially constrained”. Less than 50 means most aspects of living are severely restricted. Least Liveable cities on the index The least liveable cities were in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa regions. Damascus and Tripoli ranked the lowest. Tel Aviv also witnessed significant drop due to war with Hamas.

In 2021, the south Indian city Chennai with average internet speed of 51.07 Mbps ranked the first among cities in India. It was followed by Bengaluru and Hyderabad, both with internet speed around 42 Mbps. Internet access speed has a crucial influence on the colocation of data center in the country.

Delhi had the highest tele-density across India at nearly 270 percent as of November 2021. This meant 270 telephone connections existed for every 100 inhabitants in the capital city. Kolkata followed with about 148 percent that same year. Among its states, Himachal Pradesh had the highest tele-density that year. The Indian telecom network was the second largest in the world based on the number of telephone connections.

In 2022, Mumbai was home to the highest number of millionaires, followed by India’s capital New Delhi, and the IT capital - Bengaluru. This comes as no surprise since all three cities have the largest share of high net worth households along with a booming economic outlook. Overall, India had around 187 billionaires as of March 2023, and ranked third globally in terms of its ultra-net-worth individuals.

A growing wealth gap

Despite this, India also has a very high wealth inequality with millions of people living below the poverty line. In fact, according to the last census, the state of Maharashtra (with Mumbai as its capital city) had the highest number of slums across the country with over 2.5 million households. Furthermore, according to a 2015 study on the geography of the super-rich, Bangalore was ranked first in terms of the inequality between its rich and poor, with the wealth of the city’s billionaires being 646,407 times that of the average per capita GDP in the city. Mumbai came second in this listing, while Delhi was ranked fifth.

It's a rich man's world

As of 2018, the richest 10 percent of Indians owned 77.4 percent of the country’s wealth. The Indian economy was also seen to be one of the fastest growing economies across the world. This indicates the level of unequal distribution of wealth in the country. This is a matter of grave concern and has several implications in terms of the country’s development and progress.

According to a survey conducted on social media usage across India in October and November 2020, tier 1cities had the highest share of active Facebook users, while tier 3 reported the lowest share. The average across tier 1, 2 and 3 cities was 78 percent during the survey period. According to the source, active users referred to respondents who spent at least half an hour daily on the social media platform.

The metropolitan city of Mumbai had the highest number of internet users across India in 2019 with over 11.7 million users. This was followed by the capital city of Delhi with 11.2 million internet users. However, the national capital territory of Delhi had the highest internet penetration rate that year at 69 percent.

This statistic displays the total consumption expenditure across the largest cities in India in 2015. Bengaluru had the lowest consumer expenditure in this list during that time period with approximately 3,500 billion Indian rupees.

The household final consumption expenditure in 2014, by country in the Asia Pacific region can be found here.

According to a survey conducted in India between 2020 and 2021, 27 percent of the urban online shoppers were from metro regions of the south Asian country in 2021. However, lower-tier cities such as tier two, three, and four were estimated to form the major share of urban online shoppers by 2030.

Sri Ganganagar in Jajasthan was India's most polluted city in 2024, based on average annual PM10 concentrations of 236 micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m³). This was roughly four times higher than India's National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM10, and more than 15 times above World Health Organization air quality guidelines.PM10 is suspended coarse particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less. It can come from various sources, including dust from roads and agriculture, smoke from wildfires, and industrial sources. Long-term exposure to PM10 can result in serious health impacts, such as asthma, heart failure, and cancer, as well as premature death.