HCES helped bring focused steps on fruits, vegetables in Budget 2025

Vegetable inflation stayed elevated for most of 2024.

Revelations from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24 that households are spending more on fruits and vegetables helped the central government to come up with focussed measures in the Budget for the next fiscal year, said Saurabh Garg Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI)

"The Budget for 2025-26 took measures focussed on consumption of fruits, vegetables thanks to revelations made in the Household Consumption survey showing a rise in spending on them," Garg noted while addressing an event in New Delhi on February 4.

This survey released on December 27 showed that the average expenditure on fruits and vegetables was higher across rural and urban areas compared to food grains like cereals and pulses.

In 2023-24, in rural and urban India, food accounted for about 47 percent and 40 percent, respectively, of the value of the average households’ consumption with the contribution of beverages, refreshments and processed food being the highest, followed by milk and milk products and then vegetables.

The rise in spending on fruits and vegetables could be attributed to sticky food inflation with the prices of these staples staying in double-digits for most of 2024.

In the Budget presented on February 1, the Centre proposed a comprehensive programme for vegetables and fruits to promote production, efficient supplies, processing, and remunerative prices for farmers, which will be launched in partnership with states.

"Appropriate institutional mechanisms for implementation and participation of farmer producer organizations and cooperatives will be set up," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget speech.