Vegetarian thali cost surges in March amidst onion, tomato price rise; non-veg thali cost declines

The cost of a vegetarian thali became dearer by 7% in March primarily due to the rise in onion, tomato, and potato prices, an arm of domestic rating agency Crisil said on Thursday.

A cool down in poultry prices led to a 7 per cent decline in non-vegetarian thali, Crisil Market Intelligence and Analysis said in its monthly "Roti Rice Rate" report.

The cost of a vegetable thali -- comprising roti, vegetables (onions, tomatoes and potatoes), rice, dal, curd and salad -- increased to Rs 27.3 per plate in March from Rs 25.5 in the year-ago period, but was cheaper than Rs 27.4 in February 2024, it said.

"The cost of the veg thali increased due to a surge of 40 per cent, 36 per cent and 22 per cent on-year in prices of onion, tomato and potato, respectively, due to lower arrivals of onion and potato and low base of last fiscal for tomatoes," the report said.

The report also noted that due to lower arrivals, prices of rice increased 14 per cent and pulses by 22 per cent when compared to the year-ago period.

In the case of non-veg thali, in which only dal gets replaced by chicken, the price declined to Rs 54.9 as against Rs 59.2 in the year-ago period, but was higher when compared with Rs 54 per thali in preceding February.

A 16 per cent decline in the cost of the broiler prices, which has a 50 per cent weight in the overall price, was the primary reason for the decline in the cost of non-vegetarian thali on a year-on-year basis, it said.

When compared with February, the prices of broiler increased 5 per cent because of the start of the holy month of Ramadan and higher demand, the report said.