A home-cooked vegetarian ‘thali’ has become costlier now as the cost has increased 7% in March to Rs 27.3 compared to Rs 25.5 in the same month in 2023, a report said on Thursday.
On the other hand, the cost of a non-vegetarian thali decreased 7% to Rs 54.9 from Rs 59.2 in the same period, the report by CRISIL rating agency said.
However, compared to February, the cost of a non-vegetarian thali rose 2% in March due to a 5% jump in broiler prices. Chicken meat is in higher demand in Ramzan and feed costs have increased.
Advertisement
The average cost of a home-cooked thali is calculated based on input prices in North, South, East and West India. As per the CRISIL’s Roti Rice Rate report, a vegetarian thali became costlier due to prices of onion, tomato and potato rising 40%, 36%, and 22% year-on-year.
A vegetarian thali comprises roti, onion, tomato, potato, rice, dal, curd, and salad, while a non-vegetarian has the same food but chicken (broiler) replaces dal.
Pushan Sharma, director of Research at CRISIL Market Intelligence and Analytics said, “For the past five months, there has been a divergence in the cost of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food plates.”
“While the vegetarian plate has become more expensive on-year, the non-vegetarian dish is cheaper. The divergence is because broiler chicken prices have fallen owing to excess supply.”
Notably, the Markets had low supplies of onions and potatoes and a low base last fiscal shaped tomato prices. At the same time, the low supplies pushed up rice prices by 14% and pulses by 22%.
In March, the price of a vegetarian thali declined by 1% compared to February, when it was at Rs 27.4, as tomato prices fell 2%. A non-vegetarian thali became cheaper in March year-on-year as broiler prices declined 16%.
Advertisement
