Amid rising prices and budgetary constraints, close to 29 per cent Indian households that were part of a thin-sample survey reported having reduced the consumption of essential and green vegetables to cope with the unbridled price rise in the last few months. One out of two Indian households are now paying over Rs 75 per kg for tomatoes, Rs 50 plus per kg for onions and over Rs 40 per kg for potatoes, the survey conducted by LocalCircles said. “In the case of potato, tomato, onion and other vegetables this may be a difficult choice if they are intrinsic to the family diet,” it said. The survey said 29 per cent out of 14,619 consumers included in the study said that they “have reduced consumption somewhat to stay within budget”, 42 per cent stated that they “have kept consumption the same and paid more while 29 per cent stated that they “have kept consumption the same but buying from sources that sell at lower prices”. Nearly 56 per cent of 15,260 consumers who responded to the survey said that they bought “tomato for Rs 75 or more, potato for Rs 40 or more and onion for Rs 50 or more” while 29 per cent said that they bought “tomato for Rs 50- 75, potato for Rs 30-40 and onion for Rs 40- 50” and 6 per cent of respondents said they bought “tomato for Rs 50 or less, potato for Rs 30 or less and onion for Rs 40 or less”. Though the government has stepped in to procure onion and sell it at subsidised prices, this benefit is restricted to residents in a few cities. The government should either ensure such interventions are at a national level or provide relief by reducing petrol and diesel prices to assist with the budget squeeze faced by many households. Vegetable prices have spiked in most cities due to disruption in supplies and damage to several crops. While the summer monsoon is over, adequate supplies of many crops like onion, tomato, green leafy vegetables is not arriving in the wholesale markets leading to higher-than-normal prices in the retail market, such that the central government through state-owned organisations is providing subsidised onions in cities like Delhi. Annual retail inflation, based on the All-India Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 5.49 per cent in September, a nine-month high, due to higher food prices. This is the highest retail inflation rate since December 2023, when it was 5.69 per cent. It was 3.65 per cent in August. Food inflation, which makes up half of the consumer price index basket, rose to 9.24 per cent annually compared to a 5.66 per cent rise in August. It stood at 5.42 per cent in July, 9.36 per cent in June, 8.69 per cent in May and 8.70 per cent in April, according to the Ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI). The cost of a home-cooked vegetarian thali surged 11 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in September, driven by rising vegetable prices, rating agency Crisil Ltd said in a report. It states that the rise in the vegetarian meal cost can be attributed to sharp increases in the prices of key vegetables, including onion, potato and tomato, which account for around 37 per cent of the cost. “Vegetable prices displayed mixed trends in September. Onion prices surged by 53 per cent, potatoes by 50 per cent and tomatoes by 18 per cent on-year due to lower onion and potato arrivals and heavy rainfall impacting the tomato output in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra,” the Crisil report stated. The survey received over 40,000 responses from households located in 351 districts of India. While 63 per cent respondents were men, 37 per cent respondents were women, it said. While 40 per cent respondents were from tier 1 centres, 27 per cent were from tier 2 and 33 per cent respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.
