Cost of home-cooked veg thali increases 20 pc in October

NEW DELHI: Vegetable prices shore up costs of veg and non-veg thalis in the month of October, as the cost of a home-cooked veg thali surged 20 per cent (year-on-year) while the cost of a non-veg thali increased 5 per cent, according to a report on Wednesday.

The increase can be attributed largely to higher prices of vegetables, which account for as much as 40 per cent of a vegetarian thali cost, according to the report by CRISIL Market Intelligence and Analytics.

“Tomato, potato and onion have all clocked sharp increases in price for varying reasons – excessive rainfall in September in key growing states that delayed arrival of kharif onion; crop damage for tomato amid strong festive demand; and depleting cold storage stocks of potato leading to a price spike,” said Pushan Sharma, Director- Research, CRISIL Market Intelligence and Analytics.

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.

“That said, we expect tomato prices to stabilise in November. Onion prices, too, should moderate with kharif arrivals in mandis. Potato, however, may take slightly longer to show a moderation in price,” the report mentioned.

The cost of a non-veg thali, which had clocked on-year declines for 12 consecutive months, also increased 5 per cent, breaking its divergence with the veg thali.

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.

“For the non-veg thali, an estimated stable broiler prices on-month helped prevent further uptick in cost,” the report mentioned.

The average cost of preparing a thali at home is calculated based on input prices prevailing in north, south, east and west India.