Veg thali gets 8% cheaper, non-veg meal costs 12% less in Aug: Crisil

Thali prices decline in August

A vegetarian thali cost 8 percent cheaper in August, while that of a non-veg thali was down 12 percent from the same period last year, according to a Crisil report released on September 6.

Sequentially, the prices of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian home-cooked meals declined in August. A veg thali cost Rs 31.2 in August as against Rs 32.6 in the previous month. The cost of a non-veg meal was 3 percent leas at Rs 59.3.

“Prices of tomato, which accounted for 14 percent of the cost of a veg thali in August, declined 51 percent from Rs 102 per kg in August 2023 to Rs 50 per kg last month due to fresh arrivals from southern and western states,” said Crisil.

The rating agency noted that the easing in cost was also helped by a decline in fuel costs as LPG prices were lower this time of the year at Rs 803 per cylinder, compared with Rs 1,103 last year.

On the non-vegetarian side, the thali prices came down because of 13 percent decline in the cost of broiler, which account for half of the cost of a non-veg meal.

“An on-year uptick of Rs 15 per kg and Rs 13 per kg in onion and potato retail prices, respectively, due to lower rabi arrivals capped the decline in costs of both veg and non-veg thalis,” Crisil noted.

India’s inflation likely to have declined to a 60-month low of 3.5 percent in August from 3.54 percent in the previous month, according to a Moneycontrol poll of 10 economists.

Inflation will likely print lower than the RBI estimate of 4.4 percent for the second quarter.

But, with industrial production expected to inch higher, the possibility of a rate cut in October is low. Experts have been pencilling in a rate cut in December.

The Reserve Bank of India held the policy rate at 6.5 percent for the ninth time at its meeting last month.