Hyderabad has best quality of living in India

Hyderabad has emerged as the city with the best quality of living in India, better than Mumbai and New Delhi.

The city is ranked 135 globally in the Mercer's Quality of Living Report 2015. It is followed by Pune, ranked globally at 145, while other cities rank much lower down the order.

Both Hyderabad and Pune rank higher for quality of living than the country's more traditional business centres, Mumbai and New Delhi, ranked at 152 and 154 respectively.

"The World Health Organization (WHO) recently published data on pollution around the world, suggesting that 13 of the world's 20 most-polluted cities are all in India. This impacts the overall scores of Indian cities," said Ruchika Pal, India practice leader, global mobility, at Mercer.

"While other factors have remained constant, considerable population increases in Mumbai and New Delhi, in the recent decades, have increased existing problems, including access to clean water, air pollution, and traffic congestion," she added.

Hyderabad has emerged as a city of choice due to factors such as improved options for international schools and a fine choice of reputable English speaking schools.

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, which offers a good range of international flights, and public services helped the city improve its ranking.

Vienna has been rated as the city with the best quality of living in the world for the second consecutive time.