Bangalore tops country in living standards, not in infrastructure

An international survey has ranked Bangalore on top of other Indian cities in overall quality of living because of  the positive ratings of international schools here.

However, Bangalore ranks lowest in India in infrastructure ratings.

Among the Indian cities, Bangalore (139) ranks higher than New Delhi (143), Mumbai (146), Chennai (150) and Kolkata (151) in overall quality of living, while Mumbai (134) ranks highest followed by Kolkata (141), New Delhi (153), Chennai (168) and Bangalore (170) on infrastructure rating, according to Mercer 2012 Quality of Living survey.

Global HR and financial consulting firm Mercer conducts this survey annually to help multinational companies and other organisations compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments.

Urban infrastructure expert V Ravichandar believes that the city’s ‘work-in-progress’ image does little for ratings.

“The problem is that, there is too much of progress in Bangalore. The fact is that it is a city that is under construction, with not a single infrastructure project fully ready for people. We need to expedite delayed projects and need a wider infrastructure consultation for future projects,” he said.

Bangalore’s overall quality of living rank has risen from 141 in 2011 to 139 in 2012 due to the presence of international schools catering to expatriates in the city.

“For the kind of money international schools are known to charge, the infrastructure and ecosystem will be top-notch. However, there has been no authentic or state-sponsored study on the academic quality in these schools,” a senior educationist said. 

Globally, Vienna, Austria ranks top followed by Zurich, Switzerland and Auckland, New Zealand.