Bengaluru best Indian city for expats

Bengaluru once again emerged as the best Indian city when it comes to the quality of living for expatriates, even as New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata improved their rankings in the global list of cities compiled by HR consultancy Mercer for 2010.

According to the Worldwide Quality of Living survey 2010 for 221 cities globally, Bengaluru remains the best placed among Indian cities in the global list at 140th rank this year, an improvement from its 142nd rank in last year's list.

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"This year, unlike the last, we have seen an upswing in the ranking of Indian cities, largely on account of relatively stable political environment and the easing of foreign trade," Mercer Information Product Solutions (India business leader) Gangapriya Chakraverti said.

The country's national capital, New Delhi, climbed to 143 rank in this year's list from 145th slot last year and financial hub Mumbai moved up four places to 144th rank.

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However, Indian cities do not fare well compared to their global peers, as the list is topped by Vienna (Austria), followed by Switzerland's Zurich and Geneva at second and third positions, respectively.

Vancouver (Canada) and Auckland (New Zealand) remain joint fourth in the rankings, followed by three German cities -- Dusseldorf (6th) and Frankfurt and Munich both at 7th slot. Switzerland's capital, Bern, and Australia's Sydney come at the 9th and 10th ranks in the global list of quality of living.

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In Asia, Singapore, ranked at 28th place, is top-scoring, followed by Japan's Tokyo at 40th slot.

Among other Indian cities on the list, Kolkata has been ranked at 145th rank, while Chennai was the only Indian city which saw a decline and is placed at 153rd rank.

The report said that the drop may be on account of new cities being included in the overall study and is not a direct reflection of the quality of living attributes in Chennai. Iraq's capital, Baghdad, remains at the bottom of the list at 221st place this year as well, the survey noted.

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Mercer has also compiled a 'Eco-city Ranking 2010', which is based on criteria like water availability, water potability, waste removal, sewage, air pollution and traffic congestion in the cities.

Indian cities did not fare well in the Eco-city rankings either, with Bengaluru at 198th rank, followed by Chennai (202), New Delhi (123), Mumbai (215) and Kolkata (218).

"We foresee eco rankings focusing on attributes such as traffic congestion, water availability, air pollution and waste management, getting a lot more attention in the times to come," Chakraverti added.