Cost of veg thali up 8%, non-veg decline 4% in April

“The cost of the veg thali increased due to a surge of 41 per cent, 40 per cent and 38 per cent on-year in prices of onion, tomato and potato, respectively, on a low base of last fiscal,” the report said.

Lower onion arrivals due to a significant drop in Rabi acreage and damage to potato crop in West Bengal led to the price increase. Amid lower arrivals, prices of rice (accounting for 13 per cent of the veg thali cost) and pulses (9 per cent) increased 14 per cent and 20 per cent on-year, respectively.

Prices of cumin, chilli and vegetable oil dropped 40 per cent, 31 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, preventing further increase in the thali cost, the report added.

The decrease in the cost of the non-veg thali was due to around 12 per cent on-year decline in broiler prices on a high base of last fiscal, it said.

“Since November 2023, the prices of vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis have been diverging. The vegetarian thali has become costlier on-year, while the non-vegetarian thali is cheaper. This is mainly because of declining broiler prices, while the prices of vegetables such as onions, potatoes and tomatoes have risen on a low base,” said Pushan Sharma, Director- Research, Crisil Market Intelligence and Analytics.

On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, however, the cost of the veg thali remained stable and non-veg thali rose 3 per cent, the report said.

Veg thali remained flat on-month due to a 4 per cent decline in onion prices amid new arrivals coupled with 3 per cent decline in fuel cost, while tomato and potato prices inched up.

The cost of the non-veg thali rose due to an estimated 4 per cent increase in prices of broilers, which account for nearly 50 per cent of the cost, due to higher demand and rising input costs, it said.

In March, the consumer price-based inflation (CPI) eased to a 10-month low of 4.85 per cent in March, driven by moderation in food and fuel prices, as against 5.09 per cent in the previous month.

In the April monetary policy, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) left the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent, mainly on concerns over food inflation pressures which might derail the path of disinflation.

The average cost of a thali is calculated based on input prices prevailing in north, south, east, and west India. Monthly change reflects the impact on the common man’s expenditure.