India lives in villages? Not for long

NEW DELHI: Three-fourths of Tamil Nadu’s population will live in urban areas by the end of the next two decades. So will 60% of Maharashtra, while a majority of the population in Gujarat and Punjab will be in urban areas by then.

As the world gets increasingly urban — according to Newsweek, more than half of its population will be in towns and cities within a year for the first time in human history — India too will be catching up with the trend, turning the cliche that ‘India lives in her villages’ on its head.

According to a projection of India’s population in 2026 by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner’s office, large swathes of the country will become urban. Leading the pack would be Tamil Nadu, already the most urbanised of India’s bigger states with 44% urbanisation in 2001. By 2026, the projection suggests three-fourths of TN residents will be in urban areas. In fact, the state is set to be predominantly urban as early as next year.

Maharashtra, which in 2001 was only a little less urbanised with 42.4% of its population in towns and cities, would by 2026 have fallen far behind. But it would still have almost two-thirds of its people in urban areas. Its urban population is likely to cross 50% by 2021.

Gujarat and Punjab would just about make the 50% cut-off, the urban populations in both states crossing the 50% mark for the first time in 2026. As on March 1, 20026 it is estimated that Gujarat would be 53% urbanised and Punjab 52.5% urbanised.

Two other major states, Karnataka and Haryana, would be on the verge of becoming predominantly urban with urbanisation rates of 49.3% and 46.3% respectively. Interestingly, Uttaranchal will be more urbanised than states like Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal or Kerala by 2026.