NEW DELHI, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The number of children dying within the first year of birth almost doubled in the past two years in the Indian capital region, reported local daily The Times of India in its electronic edition Saturday.

    The daily quoted the Delhi government statistics published in the Economic Survey of Delhi for 2008-2009 as saying that the infant mortality rate in 2007 was 25.4 deaths per 1,000 children under one year old, compared with 12.9 in 2006 and 18.1 in 2005.

    Though Delhi's Infant Mortality Rate is better than the national average of 55 per 1,000, the 2007 figure rebounded to the level of 2001, when the figure stood at 24.5, said the report.

    Delhi's medical fraternity also admitted that the figure was worrying, especially as the city claims to be progressing towards a better healthcare service with a 9 percent increase of health budget in 2008 budget, according to the report.