indian-spends-more-on-data-travel-than-staples-report

India’s consumption story is undergoing a sharp transformation, with households increasingly spending on mobile data, OTT subscriptions, premium smartphones, live events and foreign travel, even as the share of food and staples in household budgets continues to decline, a report noted. 

The report, titled The Great Consumption Shift, by Kotak Mutual Fund said the “Indian wallet has moved from cereal to data to OTT to mobiles”, underlining how digital consumption, experiences and premiumisation are reshaping spending patterns across urban and rural India.

One of the biggest shifts has been in overseas travel expenditure. Spending on foreign travel has surged nearly 450 per cent over the last eight years to around Rs 1.45 lakh crore in FY26 till February, making it larger than India’s entire building materials industry comprising plywood, tiles, pipes and laminates. Overseas investments in equity and debt have also risen 7.3 times in the last three years, the report noted.

 

The share of cereals in household expenditure fell sharply between 1999-2000 and 2022-23 rom 22 per cent to 5 per cent in rural India and from 12 per cent to 4 per cent in urban India.

Also read: Fuel pangs: India's annual product growth forecast cut 40 pc

“Mobile, automobiles, durables, rent and education are the new pillars of urban household spending,” the report said, linking the trend to rising incomes and changing aspirations.

 

India’s premiumisation story is becoming increasingly visible across sectors. OTT paid subscribers grew at a 40 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between FY19 and FY26, while the hearables market expanded at 52 per cent CAGR. Premium smartphones priced above Rs 30,000 increased their market share from 20 per cent to 26 per cent between 2020 and 2025 despite overall smartphone sales remaining largely flat.

 

The firm projected that Apple India’s revenue in FY26 could be nearly double that of Hindustan Unilever Ltd despite catering to a much smaller consumer base.

The report also highlighted the rise of India’s “going-out economy”, with ticketed live events increasing from 19,000 in 2022 to 34,000 in 2025.

At the same time, it flagged rising financial stress among households, saying speculative trading losses and digital fraud were increasingly eating into savings and consumption.