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The cost of home-cooked veg thali rose 20 per cent and that of non-veg thali, after declining for 12 consecutive months, clocked a 5 per cent increase in October, rating firm Crisil said.
The cost of the veg thali rose due to an increase in the prices of vegetables, which collectively account for 40 per cent of the thali cost − In October, prices of onion and potato rose 46 per cent and 51 per cent on-year, respectively, because of lower arrivals due to incessant rainfall in September, Crisil said.
Further, rainfall in Maharashtra and Karnataka have delayed onion harvests and cold storage stocks of rabi potato (which accounts for 95 per cent of annual potato production) are declining due to the season end, while fresh arrivals are slated to begin from December-January, Crisil said.
Prices of tomato more than doubled from Rs 29/kg in October 2023 to Rs 64/ kg in October 2024 due to September rains that impacted arrivals from states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh due to crop damage and festive demand, it said.
However, with supplies from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, the prices are expected to stabilise in November, it said.
Crisil said price of pulses, which account for 9 per cent of the veg thali cost, rose 11 per cent due to an 11 per cent lower opening stock, a lower stock pipeline and festive demand.
Prices are expected to dip from December once fresh arrivals begin. “An 11 per cent drop in fuel cost – from Rs 903 for a 14.2 kg LPG cylinder in Delhi in September last year to Rs 803 in March this year – prevented further increase in the thali cost,” it said.
For the non-veg thali, an estimated decline of 9 per cent on-year in broiler prices that account for 50 per cent of the cost led to relatively slower uptick, while the prices of vegetables, which account for almost 22 per cent of the cost, witnessed an increase, Crisil said.
“On-month, the cost of both veg and non-veg thalis rose 6 per cent and 4 per cent respectively, it said. Tomato prices rose 39 per cent on-month to Rs 64/kg in October amid heavy rainfall in the tomato growing areas, which impacted market arrivals,” Crisil said.
Onion prices rose 6 per cent on-month because of incessant rainfall in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, which damaged crops and delayed kharif harvests by 10-15 days, it said.
Vegetable oil prices rose 10 per cent on-month in October on account of increase in import duty coupled with healthy festive demand. For the non-veg thali, an estimated stable broiler prices on-month helped prevent further uptick in cost, it said.
