Kolkata, India – A lot of Indians are living in houses, and not just in urban areas.
Many are renting, and there is a growing market for houses in rural areas as well.
“People are finding it difficult to make ends meet in the cities, so they have to move to the countryside,” said Suresh Kumar, an urban development expert at Mumbai-based consultancy Kolkatias Centre for Urban Studies.
Kumar, who has lived in the northern parts of India for a few years, said there are people who can afford to buy a house in rural India but it is not easy.
According to a 2017 report by the Kolkati Development Authority, the rural population in India has increased by 11.3% over the last five years.
Anecdotally, people who live in the hills and mountains of northern India have been more affluent than those in urban centres, but this may not be the case.
Some of the poorest rural families have been struggling to pay the rent, according to Kumar.
In rural India, it is estimated that about 40% of households do not have electricity and water.
In the southern region of Bihar, about 30% of families do not even have electricity.
The rural poor also suffer from air pollution, poor nutrition, and poverty.
India’s rural population is estimated at 1.7 billion, with the majority of them living in urban slums.
Many of the poor live in isolated villages with little access to basic amenities such as schools, health clinics, and water and sewage treatment.
In urban India, urbanisation has brought prosperity for many rural Indians, but not for all.
Rural India is becoming increasingly urbanised.
As a result, many rural areas are seeing a shift in the composition of the rural poor.
Suresh Kulkarni, an economist at the University of Delhi, believes the rural poverty rate is on the rise and that many of these poor will not be able to pay their rent in urban India.
One study published in 2013 by Kolkatalas Centre for Rural Studies said rural households in India are earning less than half the income of urban households.
At the same time, rural people in India live in more isolated environments.
This creates an opportunity for people who are able to survive in rural, but also in urban, environments.
The economic benefits of urbanisation have been clear in rural Maharashtra.
More than half of rural households are living at home, and more than half have access to electricity.
The government has also been pushing for rural development, with plans to electrify rural areas.
But the rural economy is still not strong enough to pay for all the basic needs, and some people have to spend a lot of money to make their rent.
It is estimated there are 1.5 million rural households, but many are still struggling to survive.
Read more about the rural rich and poor in India.