Every third Indian is living in poverty. The expert group, headed by former chairman of PM's Economic Advisory Council Suresh Tendulkar, in its report on poverty said 41.8 per cent of the rural population spend a meagre amount Rs 447 a month on essential necessities like food, fuel, light, clothing and footwear.<br/><br/>The situation is slightly better in urban areas, with 25.7 per cent being poor and they spend Rs 578.8 a month.<br/><br/>Among the states, Orissa and Bihar are the worst while Nagaland, Delhi and J&K have the least number of the poor.<br/><br/>However, according to the World Bank's estimates, 41.6 per cent Indians live on less than the international poverty line which is 1.25 USD a day, .<br/><br/>The World Bank in its report 'Global Economic Prospects for 2009' had projected that even by 2015, one-fourth of India's population will be living in extreme poverty.<br/><br/>The Planning Commission in its own estimates had pegged the poverty at 27.5 per cent. According to the Planning Commission's recent estimates, poverty in India came down from 35.97 per cent in 1993-94 to 27.54 per cent in 2004-05. India's population is over one billion.<br/>