Delhi Mumbai among the least expensive cities in the world?

This very exciting news has come in almost every newspapers (The Hindu, Indian express,) in the country. It is a refreshing news in a time of recession and when the commodity prices are shooting up. We, people living in the metros, can at least feel that we are living in the least expensive city in the world. But if you ask anyone in these cities they will tell you that this is not true. So, where is the mistake? I tried to find the answer for this and explain in next paragraphs.
First thing that should strike in any statistics based analysis is that what the parameters chosen for the data collection and how they are analysed. As the reports says that the basket for this analysis has been selected based on the western European consumer preferences then the same basket, with little variations, has been used through out the world cities. It is a questionable assumption and the whole analysis will be altered if this is challenged. This report has given only 14% for the food and groceries and 15% for the transportation. How many of the Indian in these cities spend more money on the transport and less on food? It is true for the western Europe but not for the Indian cities. People living in these cities spend money on the transport but the weightage given to these items do not reflect the regional realities.

If one looks at the other table, net and gross wages, then it is clear that the Indian workers are the least paid among the 73 cities selected for the survey. This is also reflect in the domestic purchasing power for these cities. Most of the Asian cities, Indian cities are on the bottom, can buy only upto 5.5 of the basket while people in European cities can buy 13 standard baskets. In North America and Sydney this ratio is 16 times. So they can by 2-3 times than the average worker in Indian metro. Is this is still really cheap to live in Delhi and Mumbai?

Other problem with the survey is that the price comparison should be done for the same commodities. For example, when one travel in a local train in Geneva or Zurich then the quality of the train and the speed and overall experience is not comparable to the local in Mumbai.Other example is of the accommodation. Whatever one pays, quality of accommodation in Indian metros is worse than in western European cities. So even if one pays less for the service, the services is not the same. So ideally these can not be compared. Same products are like 8GB ipod. But how many people in Indian metros can really afford this gadget? These things are, to some extent, reflected in the Human Development Index of UN report where Indian cities perform badly.

This report can give good indication to compare western European cities but to extend beyond that is meaning less. So no hype. It conveys no sense to any sensible person.