India, Aug. 29 -- India's economic trajectory has often been captured through stories of factories humming, investments rising, and employment expanding. Yet the quiet transformation of India's households, reflected vividly in their consumption patterns, reveals an equally compelling narrative. What Indians choose to eat, how much they spend, and the changing composition of their daily expenditure offer profound insights into the evolving socio-economic landscape of a nation on the move.

The recently released Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023-24, published by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI), is a landmark document that ends a decade-long hiatus of detailed consumption data. Its findings ...