Rural consumption has almost tripled since 2011: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that rural consumption in India has nearly tripled since 2011, indicating that people are spending more on their preferred items as expenditure on food is coming down.

Citing the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023- 24, PM Modi noted that, compared to 2011, consumption in rural India has nearly tripled, indicating that people are spending more on their preferred items. 

Modi said that, previously, villagers had to spend more than 50% of their income on food, but for the first time since independence, the expenditure on food in rural areas has fallen below 50%. 

"This means people are now spending on other desires and needs, improving their quality of life," Modi said after inaugurating the Grameen Bharat Mahotsav, organised by the Ministry of Finance in New Delhi. 

Highlighting another significant finding from the survey, which revealed that the gap in consumption between urban and rural areas has decreased, the Prime Minister remarked that it was previously believed that urban individuals could spend more than those in villages, but continuous efforts have reduced this disparity. "Numerous success stories from rural India inspire us," said Modi. 

Taking a dig at the opposition, PM Modi noted that these achievements could have been realised during previous governments' tenures, but for decades after independence, lakhs of villages were deprived of basic necessities. 

On December 27, the Ministry of Statistics released the Housing Consumption Survey. 

"Consumption inequality, both in rural and urban areas, has declined from the level of 2022-23. The Gini coefficient has declined to 0.237 in 2023-24 from 0.266 in 2022-23 for rural areas and to 0.284 in 2023-24 from 0.314 in 2022-23 for urban areas,” the ministry's release on the findings of the report said.