The NSS consumer expenditure survey (CES) aims at generating estimates of average household monthly per capita consumer expenditure (MPCE), its distribution over households and persons, and its break-up by commodity group, at national and State/UT level, and for different socio-economic groups. These indicators are amongst the most important measures of the level of living of the respective domains of the population, and are used extensively for the study of poverty and inequality. Other uses of the CES include the use of budget shares as revealed by the NSS CES to prepare the weighting diagram for official compilation of consumer price indices (CPIs), and the measurement of elasticity or responsiveness of demand to change in total expenditure. The data on quantities of consumption of different food items are used to study the level of nutrition of populations of different regions and disparities therein, and trends in nutritional intake over time.