India's economic growth may or may not be a white elephant but the slum population in the country is reaching a mammoth size.

The slum population has risen by as much as around 23 percent since 2001, says a new study prepared by the government of India.

The government committee headed by Dr Pranob Sen, principal adviser, Planning Commission found that there has been a growth of 17.8 million in the urban slum population across the country in the last decade.

Very sourly for Mahrashtra, one India's richest state, the state is also predicted to have over 1.815 crore people living in slums.

“It will followed by Uttar Pradesh (1.087 crore), Tamil Nadu (86.44 lakh), West Bengal (85.46 lakh) and Andhra Pradesh (81.88 lakh),” the report mentioned.

The report adopted a new definition of slums to replace the existing one used by the Census of India and the states. “Even small clusters of 20-25 households living in a contiguous area and exhibiting slum like characteristics - like little or no access to basic civic amenities like water, sanitation and sewerage - should be categorised as slums,” Sen headed committee said.

Earlier, the cluster size for identification of slums was 60 households. The 2001 census had put the slum population at 52.4 million.

The housing and poverty alleviation ministry - the nodal agency dealing with slums has formally accepted the recommendation and said that it would be of great help while implementing the Rajiv Awas Yojana — the government's flagship project to make India slum free.

The committee has recommended that Registrar General of India (RGI), which is conducting the 2011 survey, should share layout maps with the ministry as an aid for slum surveys.

Read the report