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MoSPI signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala, Punjab, on 31 August 2026.
The MoU covers a joint research study on a Predictive and Analytical Framework for Monthly Consumption Expenditures in India.
The study will use Household Consumption Expenditure Survey data to estimate Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure at national and state levels.
It was signed by Prof. Padmakumar Nair, Vice Chancellor of the Thapar Institute, and Shri R. Rajesh, Additional Director General in MoSPI's Capacity Development Division.
MPCE is the average amount a household spends on consumption in a month, divided by the number of people in it. It is the standard yardstick for living standards in Indian official statistics, because it captures what people actually consume rather than what they report earning - a distinction that matters in an economy where much income is informal and irregular. MPCE is estimated from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey, and it underpins poverty analysis and the consumption baskets used to weight consumer price indices. The difficulty this MoU addresses is timeliness: HCES rounds are conducted at long intervals, so between them there is no direct measure of how consumption is moving.
Simple Analogy: MPCE is the household grocery-and-everything bill per head - and the study is an attempt to estimate it in the years when nobody is checking the bill.
MPCE distributions are the basis on which poverty headcounts are computed in India, so the quality and frequency of consumption data directly shapes poverty estimates.
Consumption survey data determines the weights of items in the consumption basket used for retail inflation measurement.
PFCE in the national accounts measures household consumption from the macro side; HCES measures it from the household side, and the two are used to cross-check each other.
GS Paper 3 > Indian Economy > Poverty, Inclusion and Data
General Awareness > Economy and Official Statistics
General Awareness > Economy
In India, which one of the following compiles information on industrial disputes, closures, retrenchments and lay-offs in factories employing workers?
Answer: Labour Bureau
Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure - average monthly household consumption spending per person
Household Consumption Expenditure Survey, conducted by the National Sample Survey Office under MoSPI
Adding the estimated value of goods received free through welfare schemes to measured consumption
The MoSPI division that handles training, research collaboration and statistical capacity building