Gurugram: In the Economic Survey 2025-26 released Monday, the Haryana government stated that the state’s annual per capita income had reached Rs 3,95,618 at current prices—up from Rs 3,58,171 in 2024-25. It added that the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is now at 11.8 percent; meanwhile, the services sector is booming and industries are expanding.
With this, Haryana, on paper, appears to be a state racing ahead. Nevertheless, another set of numbers from the state’s Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP)—the government’s family ID scheme—looks contradictory.
As of March 2025, the PPP database, which determines who is poor enough to receive subsidies and freebies, showed 51.83 lakh families with an annual income below Rs 1.8 lakh, just at the poverty threshold the state has drawn.
Considering Haryana’s population of roughly 2.9 crore and an average household size of four persons per family—a standard ratio the state itself applies—it is found that 51.83 lakh of the nearly 73 lakh families across Haryana, or 70 percent of them, are living on less than Rs 1.8 lakh a year.
Approximately 10 percent of all families are categorised by the state as Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), referring to the poorest of the poor with an annual family income of less than Rs one lakh.
Applying similar arithmetic to the economic survey data—multiplying a per capita income of Rs 3,95,618 at current prices by the estimated number of members in each household (four)—implies an annual family income of nearly Rs 16 lakh.
In other words, according to the survey, the average Haryana family earns Rs 16 lakh annually. The document notes this figure is 70 percent higher than the national average, which is close to Rs 2.2 lakh.
On the other hand, the PPP database, compiled by the same government, says seven in ten families earn less than Rs 1.8 lakh.
Both are Haryana government figures. Both relate to the same period.
The contradiction is stark enough to warrant an explanation that neither document gives.
If both sets are correct, the vast difference between the survey figures—which indicate the size of the economic pie—and the Parivar Pehchan Patra data—which indicate how the pie is distributed—can only be explained by extreme income inequality. Haryana’s growth is not trickling down to seven out of every ten families, who remain near the poverty line.
What the Oppn is saying
Ex-CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda has slammed the state’s Economic Survey 2025-26 figures on per capita income as a “sham”, telling ThePrint the numbers were heavily propped up by a handful of urban-industrial pockets, while the rest of the state struggled.
“This so-called per capita income of Rs 3.95 lakh is nothing but a statistical illusion,” Hooda said. “It’s driven almost entirely by the shine of Gurugram’s corporate towers, Faridabad’s industries, and Manesar’s auto hubs. The growth in these NCR-adjacent areas pulls up the average, but what about the farmer and labourer in rural Haryana, or families in the heartland districts? For them, this figure means nothing.”
The government, he further told ThePrint, had already indicated through its Parivar Pehchan Patra that seven out of ten families live their year on less than Rs 1.8 lakh.
In the state assembly, Leader of the Opposition Hooda earlier said, “How can you boast of high per capita income while your own data shows mass hardship? This is lopsided development at its worst: a few pockets boom while the rest are left behind, and the economic survey is used to paper over the inequality.”
What officials are saying
The economic survey projects the GSDP at current prices for 2025-26 at Rs 13,67,769 crore, growing at 11.8 percent—faster than the 11.3 percent recorded in 2024-25. The services sector, which now accounts for 52.1 percent of the state’s Gross Value Added at constant prices, is projected to grow by 11.5 percent, led by trade, transport and financial services.
Moreover, according to the survey, Haryana’s industry is growing at 8.9 percent. Agriculture, the livelihood of a huge chunk of the state’s population, is growing at a relatively modest 4.4 percent.
Regarding the contradiction between the survey data and the PPP database, a senior Haryana government official told ThePrint that the two data sets serve different purposes and thus cannot be directly compared.
“The per capita income figure quoted in the economic survey—Rs 3,95,618 at current prices—is the standard national statistical measure of per capita GSDP. It is simply the state’s total Gross State Domestic Product divided by its population. This is how every state and the Centre report economic performance, and it correctly reflects Haryana’s strong growth trajectory, placing us consistently among the top-performing states in the country,” he said on condition of anonymity.
He explained that the aggregate indicator captured the overall output and productivity of the economy— driven heavily by sectors such as IT/ITES in Gurugram, automobiles in Manesar-Faridabad, logistics, financial services, and real estate in the NCR belt—claiming there were no pretensions to represent the average take-home income of every household.
“The PPP database is an administrative tool created specifically for identifying and targeting beneficiaries under various welfare schemes—subsidised rations, old-age pensions, and other pro-poor interventions. Families declare their incomes for this purpose, and the system is designed to be inclusive so that no deserving household is left out. Many applicants have every incentive to report conservatively to qualify for benefits under the Rs 1.8 lakh annual family income threshold,” he added.
However, the vast difference between the figures in the two datasets—even after considering potential income under-reporting by families in the PPP—suggests that the majority of Haryana’s population is not experiencing the “Rs 16 lakh” lifestyle, as indicated by the per capita income.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)