That the per capita income in India was Rs. 20 in 1867-68, was ascertained for the first time by

The per capita income figure of Rs. 20 for 1867–68 was first ascertained and publicised by Dadabhai Naoroji. Naoroji prepared early national income estimates (published in the 1870s) and used them to calculate a national income of about Rs. 340 crore and a per capita income of roughly Rs. 20 for 1867–68, a finding he used to highlight India’s impoverishment under British rule [1]. His work on subsistence-based poverty lines (ranging ₹16–₹35 per annum at 1867–68 prices) further demonstrates his pioneering role in estimating poverty and per capita income for that year [1]. These contributions establish Naoroji as the first to ascertain the Rs. 20 per capita estimate for 1867–68.

Sources

1. [1] Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 3: Poverty, Inequality and Unemployment > Pre-Independence Estimates > p. 37