July 10, 2025
NEW DELHI – The cost of home-cooked vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis declined 8% and 6% on a year-on-year basis in June, said a Crisil report on Tuesday.
The Crisil Intelligence report said the decline in vegetarian thali cost on-year was due to a sharp drop in prices of vegetables on a high base.
For tomato, weak summer sowing is expected to lead to a sequential increase in prices, adding to the upward pressure on thali costs, the report said.
Notably, tomato prices fell 24% on-year to Rs 32 per kg in June from Rs 42 per kg in June 2024, driven by a high base effect linked to lower yields last year. Prices of potato and onion declined 20% and 27% on-year, respectively, on a high base.
Along with lower vegetable prices, an estimated 3% on-year drop in broiler prices drove down the cost of a non-vegetarian thali, said the report.
The cost of broiler chicken dropped giving non-veg eaters a similar relief in prices. Prices dropped due to oversupply after demand dropped due to bird flu reports in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana, it added.
The report also noted that a 19% YoY increase in cost of vegetable oil (due to import duty), and 6% YoY jump in LPG cylinder prices, prevented a steeper fall in thali costs.
On a monthly basis, the cost of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis rose 3% and 4%, respectively, in June 2025.
Notably, as per the government data, the Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation eased to 2.82% in May 2025, down 34 basis points from April’s 3.16%, marking the lowest reading since February 2019.
A key driver of the decline was food inflation, which dropped to 0.99%—the lowest since October 2021.
According to a recent report by Bank of Baroda, with good rains across the country and thanks to the base effect, retail inflation is seen to remain benign at 2.5% or less in June, but seasonal pressures are cropping up. Prices of kitchen staples such as tomatoes are beginning to see a spike, which could put pressure on retail inflation in July.
“The outlook for inflation remains comforting for now, as it has the handholding of a favourable statistical base. This is likely to continue in July 2025 as well. We expect to settle CPI to settle at 2.6% in June 2025. Thus, giving a breather for RBI in terms of focusing on growth,” said a report by Bank of Baroda.
ICRA has also pegged headline CPI inflation at about 2.5% in June.
“With the benign YoY inflation prints for most vegetables, reduction in import duty for edible oils, as well as a favourable base, food and beverage inflation is set to ease further in June 2025,” it had said in a recent report.