A government survey on income and expenditure says, about 60 per cent of India's rural population lives on less than 35 rupees a day and nearly as many in cities live on 66 rupees a day. Director General of National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) J Dash in his preface to the report has revealed this information.

The 66th round of National Sample Survey (NSS) carried out between July 2009 and June 2010 says all India average monthly per capita consumer expenditure (MPCE) in rural areas was 1,054 rupees while in urban areas it was 1,984 rupees.

The survey also pointed out that 10 per cent of the population at the lowest rung in rural areas lives on 15 rupees a day, while in urban areas the figure is twenty rupees per day. The survey also revealed that average MPCE in rural areas was lowest in Bihar and Chhattisgarh at around 780 rupees followed by Odisha and Jharkhand at 820 rupees.

Among other states, Kerala has the highest rural MPCE at 1,835 rupees followed by Punjab and Haryana at 1,649 and 1,510 rupees respectively. The highest urban MCPE was in Maharashtra at 2,437 rupees followed by Kerala at 2,413 and Haryana at 2,321 rupees. It was lowest in Bihar at 1,238 rupees.

According to the study, food was estimated to account about 57 per cent of the value of the average rural Indian household consumption during 2009-10 whereas it was 44 per
cent in cities.

The study reveals that the average monthly per capita consumption of cereals was 11.3 kg in rural areas and 9.4 kg in cities.