Urban India spends less on food

57th round of NSS show increase in vegetables intake

The average urban Indian's monthly spending pattern has undergone a significant change, with the share of fuel and light, durable goods, vegetables and edible oils in his total expenditure going up.

According to the 57th round of National Sample Survey (NSS) results released yesterday, while the urban Indian is spending less on cereals, egg, fish and meat, his intake of vegetables has gone up. He also spends more on taxes and rents.

The survey reveals that the monthly per capita expenditure of individuals in urban areas rose almost 2 per cent from Rs 915 in 2000-01 to Rs 933 in 2001-02.

The extra money is going into durable goods and edible oils besides light and fuel, vegetables and edible oils. In rural areas, the figure went up a marginal 0.7 per cent from Rs 495 in the 56th round to Rs 498.3 in the next round.

In urban areas, the share of food in the total consumption expenditure fell from 43.8 per cent in 2000-01 to 43.1 per cent in 2001-02. The quantum of expenditure on food items fell from Rs 278.56 to Rs 276.35, but the amount spent on vegetables went up from Rs 42 to Rs 45, with a commensurate increase in share "" from 4.6 per cent to 4.9 per cent "" of total consumer expenditure.

While the share of edible oil in total expenditure fell from 8.3 per cent to 8.1 per cent, the amount spent by each person each month went up from Rs 25 to Rs 27 per head per month.

Expenditure on egg, fish and meat has, however, gone down from Rs 28 to Rs 26 per person per month. Spending on fruits and nuts and sugar has also gone down in absolute terms.

Expenditure on durable goods, was up from Rs 15.38 per person per month in 2000-01 to Rs 18.49 in 2001-02. The percentage expenditure on this category went up from 3.8 per cent to 4.1 per cent between the two years.