Home-cooked veg thali cost up 7.2% in Nov, non-veg 2%: Crisil

The cost of home-cooked vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis increased by 7.2% and 1.8%, respectively, year-on-year, in November, according to a report by CRISIL released on Thursday.

The increase in the cost of vegetarian thali was driven by higher tomato and potato prices, which together account for 26% of the thali's cost.

Tomato prices rose by 35% year-on-year in November, while potato prices surged by 50% due to lower yields caused by late blight infestation in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat, the report added. "We expect prices of vegetables and pulses to stabilise from December as fresh supplies enter the market, providing some respite to the veg thali cost," said Pushan Sharma, Director-Research, CRISIL Market Intelligence and Analytics. The average cost of preparing a thali at home is calculated based on input prices prevailing in north, south, east and west India.


The report also noted a 10% increase in pulse prices and a 13% rise in vegetable oil costs. However, a 11% drop in fuel costs, from ₹903 to ₹803 for a 14.2 kg LPG cylinder in Delhi, helped mitigate further increases in thali prices, the report noted.

For the non-vegetarian thali, decline of around 3% in broiler prices, which account for 50% of the cost, helped curb the rise in cost, it added.

However, the coming few months are likely to witness y-o-y growth in non-veg thali on account of a low base created from December 2023, said Sharma.

On a monthly basis, the cost of vegetarian thali declined by 2% in November, while that of non-vegetarian thali remained unchanged, according to the report.