<P> Poverty is a significant issue in India, despite having one of the fastest - growing economies in the world, clocked at a growth rate of 7.6% in 2015, and a sizable consumer economy . The World Bank reviewed and proposed revisions in May 2014, to its poverty calculation methodology and purchasing power parity basis for measuring poverty worldwide, including India . According to this revised methodology, the world had 872.3 million people below the new poverty line, of which 179.6 million people lived in India . In other words, India with 17.5% of total world's population, had 20.6% share of world's poorest in 2011 . As of 2014, 58% of the total population were living on less than $3.10 per day . According to the Modified Mixed Reference Period (MMRP) concept proposed by World Bank in 2015, India's poverty rate for period 2011 - 12 stood at 12.4% of the total population, or about 172 million people; taking the revised poverty line as $1.90 . </P> <P> The World Bank has been revising its definition and benchmarks to measure up poverty since 1990, with a $2 per day income on purchasing power parity basis as the definition in use from 2005 to 2013 . Some semi-economic and non-economic indices have also been proposed to measure poverty in India; for example, the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index placed 33% weight on number of years spent in school and education and 6.25% weight on financial condition of a person, in order to determine if that a person is poor . </P> <P> The different definitions and different underlying small sample surveys used to determine poverty in India, have resulted in widely different estimates of poverty from 1950s to 2010s . In 2012, the Indian government stated 22% of its population is below its official poverty limit . The World Bank, in 2011 based on 2005's PPPs International Comparison Program, estimated 23.6% of Indian population, or about 276 million people, lived below $1.25 per day on purchasing power parity . According to United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDG) programme 270 millions or 21.9% people out of 1.2 billion of Indians lived below poverty line of $1.25 in 2011 - 2012 . </P>

Who defined the first poverty line in india