The average cost of preparing a thali at home is calculated based on input prices prevailing in north, south, east and west India. The monthly change reflects the impact on the common man’s expenditure. The data also reveals the ingredients (cereals, pulses, broilers, vegetables, spices, edible oil and cooking gas) driving the change in the cost of the thali.

Poultry cools

On-year, the cost of the representative home-cooked veg thali rose 7% in March, while that of the non-veg thali declined 7%, as per CRISIL MI&A Research estimates:

• The cost of the veg thali increased due to a surge of 40%, 36% and 22% 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
• Amid lower arrivals, prices of rice (accounting for 13% of the veg thali cost) and pulses (9%) increased 14% and 22% on-year, respectively
• The decrease in the cost of the non-veg thali was due to ~16% on-year fall in broiler prices on a high base of last fiscal

On-month, however, the cost of the veg thali declined 1% and non-veg thali rose 2%:

• The cost of the veg thali eased due to a decline of 2% on-month in prices of tomato (accounting for 9% of the veg thali cost), while prices of onion and rice remained flat. In contrast, potato prices rose 6% on-month due to crop damage, preventing further decline in thali cost
• The cost of the non-veg thali rose due to an estimated 5% increase in broiler prices (accounting for ~50% of the cost) due to higher demand amid Ramadan coupled with rising feed cost