India's first National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) found a ₹432 monthly urban-rural difference for workers aged 15 and older commuting to fixed jobs, revealing a spending gap by location.
The National Statistics Office (NSO), part of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), conducted the survey from July 2025 through June 2026. It covered 492,023 households and 2,034,371 people. For workers aged 15 and older traveling to fixed workplaces, reported monthly expenses averaged ₹1,044 in urban areas, ₹612 in rural areas and ₹785 nationwide.
A separate NSO table covers workers traveling to either fixed or non-fixed workplaces, a broader group than the one used for the cost averages. Walking and cycling together accounted for 50% of primary travel modes in rural areas, 19.3% in urban areas and 39% nationally. The figures do not show how much people using each mode spent.
NDTV Profit opinion writer Swapnil Karkare used those mode shares to estimate costs for workers using other forms of transport. His calculation put the adjusted monthly average at ₹1,224 in rural areas and ₹1,294 in urban areas, narrowing the difference to ₹70. Karkare's estimates are not official survey figures and assume walking and cycling involve no monthly travel costs. The calculation also applies mode shares from a broader group to spending figures for fixed-workplace commuters.
For workers aged 15 and older traveling to fixed workplaces, average journey time was 23 minutes in rural areas and 27 minutes in urban areas. Monthly expenses for that group averaged ₹835 for men and ₹533 for women. The survey does not compare costs with earnings, so those figures do not establish which group faces greater affordability pressure.
MoSPI said the survey was intended to support regional transport planning, infrastructure development and policy formulation. The survey was also intended to address information needs identified by the Ministry of Railways. It records travel patterns and reported expenses but does not establish whether commuting costs affect decisions to move to cities.
