New Delhi, April 10: India is one of the preferred global business destinations. But quality of living ? a key factor in deciding pay packages for expatriate assignments ? in its cities is not all that good.

A worldwide quality-of-living survey conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting has ranked Indian cities far below their Asian counterparts.

Delhi and Mumbai share the 150th position ? 29 notches behind Colombo, ranked at 121, and even below Senegal’s capital Dakar, which has been placed at 144. But the two Indian cities have shown slight improvement, compared with last year. Delhi was at 153 then and Mumbai 151.

Bangalore and Chennai were ranked 153 and 160 this year.

China fared better with its commercial capital Sanghai at the 103rd position with 80.1 index points. Beijing ranked 122 with 73.4 index points.

“When multinational companies set up expatriate assignments, they have to provide reward packages to compensate employees for any negative changes to their quality of living,” said Yvonne Sonsino, the principal at Mercer’s.

Foreign assignments tend to carry large price tags, particularly if they are in cities with low living standards.