In FY24, rural consumption beats urban; inequality down

Indicating a slowdown in consumption in urban regions, monthly per capita expenditures (MPCE) have seen a higher rise in rural areas compared to urban areas, a survey by the Statistics Ministry revealed on Friday. However, it highlighted that inequality in rural areas has come down. According to the latest edition of the Household Consumption Expenditure […]
Milk occupies giant share in Haryana’s food bill-Household Consumption Expenditure Survey

The sharp rise in share of spending on beverages and processed food by Indian households caught everyone’s eyes, but that may not be true in every state — Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, among others. Rural Haryana spends 41.7 percent of its total food expenditure on milk and milk products, shows a detailed report on Household […]
How to bring about White Revolution 2.0

The new NSSO data reveals that milk is the food item Indians are spending the most on. To sustain high consumer demand and ensure a good income for farmers, focus needs to shift from hiking procurement prices to lowering production costs at the farm-gate. Based on the most recent Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) for 2022-23, milk has […]
Is it unfair for farmers to demand a guaranteed higher price?

Historic fall in farm households’ income in 2022-23 points to the agrarian crisis which calls for multipronged policy responses For the first time in Indian history, farm households’ monthly expenditure (MPCE) has fallen below non-farm (and average) rural households, a national daily has reported (MoSPI released only a three-page brief). The HCS/MPCE being the proxy […]
Indians spending more on milk, F&V than foodgrains

The latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) for 2022-23 does not only point to a continuing decline in the share of food items in the total spending basket of Indians. Equally revealing is a shift in the composition of food expenditure itself — from foodgrains and sugar to animal and horticulture products. In other words, from foods […]