“The cost of the non-veg thali declined faster due to a decline of 8-10 percent month-on-month in prices of broilers, which account for 50 percent of the cost," says Crisil.
Overall, the easing on cost of both the thalis on an annual basis was due to a decrease of 26 percent and 16 percent month-on-month in the prices of onion and tomato, respectively, with higher domestic supply of onion amid export curbs and fresh tomato arrivals from the northern and eastern states.
Food inflation in India averaged above 6 percent year-on-year between January 2022 and December 2023. Drivers of the elevated prices have alternated between non-perishable food, which were mostly cereals and spices in 2022 and pulses in second half of 2023, while those were perishable items like vegetables in the second half of 2023, says Rahul Bajoria, MD & head of EM Asia (ex-China) Economics, Barclays.
Throughout this period, multiple factors, including high input costs, severe weather, and increased demand have combined to keep food inflation elevated. Government intervention, in the form of price and/or quantity controls, have tempered the momentum, but intermittent flareups in food prices persist.
(Forbes India"s monthly series "How India Eats" takes a look at how the average price of a food plate in India changes every month, indicating the impact on the common man"s expenditure, by analysing the Indian thali.)
First Published: Feb 07, 2024, 11:20
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