What is the source of that?
Note also that China had deaths both from poverty and Mao dictatorship.
Mao definitely had deaths both from poverty and inhuman atrocities. but way less death from poverty.
I am quite suspicious and dubious about claim that Mao had any sort of positive effects that would balance his criminal incompetence and/or cruelty.
I am willing to be convinced by good source but ...
Here is the source : https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Standard/Population/
For a more concise analysis : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jNJxQNxQKd3MbtAzn2Ji...
As you can see, the death rate in China was consistently lower than in India, and while it got close during the "Great Leap Forwards", China pulled ahead even farther once it was completed.
Just to take the Chinese example again - less people died due to Mao's atrocities in China than due to regular old poverty in India, despite them starting at the same spot.
We just have normalcy bias by the absolutely staggering amount of death that comes with poverty, whereas a comparatively smaller amount of death brought by a government that fixed the former is much more interesting.