Social Inequality and Food Affordability in India

Food affordability is a multidimensional concept shaped by prices, incomes, time, spatial access, public provisioning and digital connectivity. Using nationally representative data, Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023–24 covering 227,114 households, this article examines how these dimensions of affordability are structured by social group and rural–urban in India. It associations monthly per capita food consumption expenditure (food MPCE) with indicators of access to the Public Distribution System (PDS) and engagement in online food purchasing. ​A log‑linear regression of food MPCE on social‑group and sector dummies with state fixed effects shows that, relative to socially advantaged “Others”, ST households spend about 26% less on food (β = −0.3018, p < 0.001), SC households about 25% less and OBC households about 8% less, while urban households spend roughly 57% more than rural households (β = 0.4476, p < 0.001). Adjusted mean food MPCE ranges from Rs 16,889 for ST households to Rs 25,389 for Others, indicating a pronounced social gradient in food budgets even after controlling for sector and state. Descriptively, ST and SC households exhibit the highest PDS coverage (about 78% and 77%) but the lowest rates of online food purchasing (around 5% and 4%), whereas Others combine lower PDS reliance with the highest engagement in digital food markets. ​These findings suggest that food affordability in India is simultaneously constrained by income, social stratification, spatial location and unequal access to emerging digital food environments, and that improving affordability for marginalised groups will require integrated policies that align income support, nutrition‑sensitive PDS reform and inclusive digital infrastructure.