Home-cooked meals become dearer in October on costlier vegetables

Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian home-cooked meals became costlier in October due to a pick up in vegetable prices, a report said on Wednesday.

The cost of a vegetarian thali increased by 20 per cent to Rs 33.3 per plate compared to the year-ago period and was also up from Rs 31.3 in September primarily due to the surge in vegetable prices, a division of rating agency Crisil said.

The monthly 'roti rice rate' report said onion prices were up 46 per cent on year in October, while potato prices were up 51 per cent primarily due to the continuing rains, which led to lower arrivals and also impacted harvests in Maharashtra and Karnataka, it said.

The report also said that the prices of tomatoes more than doubled to Rs 64 per kg from Rs 29 per kg in the year-ago period as rains impacted the arrivals, the report said, adding that prices of this commodity are likely to stabilise from November with supplies from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.

The report said vegetable prices have a 40 per cent weightage in the overall thali cost and hence fluctuations impacted the overall costs.

Prices of pulses which have an 11 per cent weight in a vegetable meal, were up by 11 per cent during the month due to lower opening stock, lower stock pipeline and festive demand, the report said, adding that a cool down in prices is expected from December on fresh arrivals.

An 11 per cent drop on year in fuel cost helped restrict the jump in meal costs, the report said. In the case of a non-vegetarian thali, a 9 per cent decline in broiler prices which accounts for half of the thali cost led to a relatively slower uptick in costs, the report said.

A home-made non-veg thali cost Rs 61.6 in October as against Rs 59.3 in the month-ago period and Rs 58.6 in the year-ago period, the report said. Vegetable prices, which account for 22 per cent of the non-veg thali costs, also influenced the overall non-veg thali cost, it said.