Onion, tomato price surge to blame? Veg thali rises by 7% in March

The cost of a vegetarian thali increased to ₹27.3 per plate in March. What about non-vegetarian thali?

The cost of a vegetarian thali became expensice in March owing to rise in onion, potato and tomato prices, an arm of domestic rating agency Crisil said. The price rose by 7 per cent in March while a cool down in poultry prices led to a 7 per cent decline in non-vegetarian thali.

The cost of a vegetable thali includes roti, vegetables (onions, tomatoes and potatoes), rice, dal, curd and salad.

The Crisil Market Intelligence and Analysis said in its monthly "Roti Rice Rate" report that the cost of a vegetable thali- which includes roti, vegetables (onions, tomatoes and potatoes), rice, dal, curd and salad- increased to ₹27.3 per plate in March. This was ₹25.5 in the year-ago period, and was ₹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. Prices of rice also increased 14 per cent and pulses by 22 per cent, it added.

What about a non-veg thali?

In the case of non-veg thali, in which dal gets replaced by chicken, the price declined to ₹54.9 as against ₹59.2 in the year-ago period, it noted. Although this was higher when compared with ₹54 per thali in preceding February, it said. The reason for the fall is a 16 per cent decline in the cost of the broiler prices that has a 50 per cent weight in the overall price, it said. In February, the prices of broiler increased 5 per cent because of the start of the holy month of Ramadan, the report said.