In September 2024, the cost of a home-cooked veg thali stands at Rs 31.3, while the cost for a non-veg thali stands at Rs 59.3.
Due to a significant hike in vegetable prices, particularly onions, tomatoes and potatoes, the prices of home-cooked vegetarian thali surged by 11 per cent on-year in September 2024. On the other hand, the decline in broiler prices led to a 2 per cent on-year decline in the costs of non-veg thali in September 2024, as per a report by crisil.
As vegetables account for nearly 37 per cent of the total cost of the vegetarian thali, the surge in the prices of key ingredients led to the uptick in the costs of veg thali for the month. The prices of onion, potato and tomato rose 53 per cent, 50 per cent and 18 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, respectively.
The uptick in prices of onion and potato was mainly due to lower arrivals, while heavy rainfall impacted tomato output in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, as per Crisil. Prices of pulses rose 14 per cent amid a drop in production last year, which led to lower opening stock this year.
The fall in fuel cost prevented a further increase in thali cost as it fell by 11 per cent from Rs 903 for a 14.2 kilogram LPG cylinder in Delhi in September last year to Rs 803 this year, as per Crisil.
An estimated decline of 13 per cent on-year in broiler prices, which account for 50 per cent of non-veg thali cost, provided some relief. On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, the cost of both veg and non-veg thali remained stable.
As per Crisil, the onion prices rose 14 per cent on-month due to tight rabi stock in the market as well as the reduction of export duty. However, a 2 per cent decline in potato prices due to stocks released from the cold storage and a 9 per cent fall in tomato prices due to higher arrivals from southern and western markets prevented further increases in the costs.
In September 2024, the cost of a home-cooked veg thali stood at Rs 31.3, while the cost for a non-veg thali stood at Rs 59.3.
