Report on Income Inequality and Labour Markets in India

“Inequality is an emotive issue. It is also an empirical issue, since definition and measurement are contingent on the metric used and data available, including its timeline.” Dr. Bibek Debroy stated this during his tenure as the chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). He encouraged a continuous inquiry into the need to examine issues of poverty and inequality with empirical evidence embedded in databases across India. 

As India continues to make impressive strides in poverty reduction, as evidenced by the World Bank’s Spring 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief, which states that India has achieved remarkable success by lifting 171 million people out of extreme poverty, benefiting millions through broad-based growth spanning rural and urban regions. However, alongside significant progress in poverty alleviation, it remains crucial to continuously highlight the evolving and deepening issues of inequality in India at the national and sub-national levels. In this context, exploring the current dynamics of income inequality is of utmost importance. 

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