There seems to be some discussion about how this can be squared with the actual reality of poverty in India as perceived by people who live or visit there. One

There seems to be some discussion about how this can be squared with the actual reality of poverty in India as perceived by people who live or visit there. One thing to consider is that the work (or similar recent work) by Bhalla and Bhassin that underlies this claim has been strongly criticized for using unrealistic poverty benchmarks: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/indian-government-data-conceal-poverty-increase-by-ashoka-mody-2024-03 https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/indian-governme... So maybe the myth has not been undermined.