Patna
Generates 27% of Bihar's GDP while the state's per-capita income sits below Somalia's — a banyan tree draining the surrounding territory it's supposed to shade.
Patna generates 27% of Bihar's GDP while Bihar remains India's poorest state with per-capita income below $650 — lower than Somalia. The capital of India's most deprived state is simultaneously a prosperity island: Patna's per-capita income runs nearly twice the state average, and the World Bank once ranked it second in India for ease of starting a business.
This is not a new pattern. As Pataliputra, the city served as capital of the Maurya Empire in the third century BCE, when it was one of the largest cities on Earth — population estimates range from 150,000 to 400,000, with 64 gates piercing wooden walls that enclosed a city stretching 15 kilometres along the Ganges. The Gupta and Pala empires ruled from the same site. Most of ancient Pataliputra remains unexcavated, buried beneath the modern city's streets.
Patna generates 27% of Bihar's GDP — a prosperity island in India's poorest state, where per-capita income is lower than Somalia's.
The banyan tree analogy fits precisely: a single organism that spreads its canopy over enormous ground area, sending down aerial roots that become secondary trunks. Patna functions as the aerial root system of Bihar — channelling resources, government services, education, and commerce through a single node while the surrounding territory remains largely undeveloped. Remove Patna and Bihar's already fragile economy collapses entirely.
Bihar's state GDP has been growing at 13% annually, projected to reach 22% — faster than India's national average. But this growth concentrates overwhelmingly in Patna. The city absorbs the state's educated workers, its healthcare infrastructure, its banking services. Each improvement in Patna's capacity draws more talent from rural Bihar, deepening the gap between the keystone city and the territory it serves.
The resulting dynamic is self-reinforcing. Patna's success doesn't lift Bihar — it drains it. The capital grows more prosperous while the surrounding districts remain trapped in agricultural poverty, sending their most capable people to the one city where capability is rewarded.