Average savings of the Indian households has gone up from 6.6% in the 50's to 23.2% in the 2000's. An analysis of the long-term savings pattern in the country shows that savings in physical assets has gone up from 4.7% of the GDP to 12.3% in the 2000's. While savings in financial assets such as cash and currency, bank deposits, investments in mutual fund schemes, stocks, bonds and insurance products, correspondingly rose from 1.9% of GDP to 10.8%

While, financial savings are clearly defined, there is ambiguity on what constitutes physical assets. Net addition to physical assets of the households, comprising investment in fixed assets of construction and machinery & equipment, and change in stocks, is taken to constitute households' saving in physical assets, according to the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).

Investment is fixed assets according to senior government officials is a residual item. After arriving at a gross domestic capital formation for the economy as a whole, the contribution of the government, the PSUs and the corporate sector is deducted and the residual is treated as the contribution of the household.

Among the items that are also used by individuals mostly for consumption purpose and are partly treated as capital assets of household, include refrigerators, washing machines, sewing machines, and even motorcycles, bicycles and cars used by the `households'. Even computers and some electrical and electronic appliances figure in the list.