Thali prices rise in July; tomato prices contribute to higher cost

Thali prices up in July

The cost of a home cooked thali remained high in July, as tomato prices remained elevated, data released by Crisil showed on August 6.

The cost of vegetarian thali was up 11 percent in July, while a non-vegetarian thali cost 6 percent compared with the previous month, as tomato prices zoomed 55 percent on month.

“This was mainly due to high temperatures impacting the summer crop in key states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh; additionally, scattered rainfall in May in Karnataka escalated whitefly infestations, thereby impacting the crop output,” Crisil noted.

Onion and potato prices also remained in double digits, with a 20 percent and 16 percent higher price sequentially.

“While lower rabi production impacted onion prices, late blight infestation in Punjab, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh affected the potato output, Crisil said.

However, on year prices of both veg and non-veg thali were lower as a higher base helped contain prices.

Food inflation is likely to decline from this month as base effects keep prices in check, while core inflation remains subdued. The government will release data on consumer inflation for July on August 12.