The consumption of cereals and pulses among Indian households has declined by over 5 per cent in both urban and rural areas, according to a report by the State Bank of India. The expenditure on food items has decreased from 52.9 per cent in 2011-12 to 47.04 per cent in 2023-24, marking a decline of 5.86 per cent in rural …
Consumption is the mainstay of India’s aggregate demand, constituting around 60% of its Gross Domestic Product. Average monthly per capita consumption expenditure was ₹3,773 in rural India and ₹6,459 in urban India in 2022-23 as against ₹1,431 in rural India and ₹2,629 in urban India in 2011-12. At a broad category level, non-food expenditure has grown at a much higher …
Arthur Schopenhauer, a famous German philosopher, observed, “Life swings like a pendulum backward and forward between pain and boredom.” Perhaps he was right but he overlooked that in a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, pain and boredom occur together. The COVID-19 incidence determines the share of food expenditure and the two together determine the share of socialising expenditure of …
