Increasing poverty is biggest challenge to the metropolitan economies. The urban poor who were 16 million in 1971-73 have increased to 8.3 million in 1987-88. There is a slight increase in the incidence of poverty between 1973-74 and 1977-78 followed by a sizeable fall between 1977-78 and 1983. However, the absolute number of the urban poor was higher in 1983. They live in jhuggi-jhopris forming part of slums, located on the urban fringe, open space and government land within the cities and even on pavement of roads in Mumbai, Delhi and Calcutta, According to an estimate, living in slums are as high as 50 percent in the large metropolitan cities. As per government estimate, out of the total urban population of 200 million, more than 40 million were urban poor on the basis of poverty line, which is fixed in relation to the minimum calorie intake.