Home-cooked meals price marginally down in May as veggie rates cool

MUMBAI: The price of home-cooked meals came down marginally, supported by cheap vegetables, a report said on Thursday.

The cost of a home-made vegetarian thali fell to Rs 26.2 from Rs 26.3 in April this year and Rs 27.8 in May last year, the 'Roti Rice Rate' report by an arm of Crisil said.

The decline was sharper in the case of a non-vegetarian thali, which cost Rs 52.6 in May 2025 as against Rs 53.9 in April. The thali cost Rs 55.9 in May 2024, it said.

"Going ahead, we anticipate an uptick in vegetable prices owing to seasonal variations and a slight easing in prices of wheat and pulses amid strong domestic output," Crisil Intelligence director Pushan Sharma said.

Sharma added that the volume of rice meant for exports is expected to increase 20-25 per cent because of competitive pricing in the global market.

The report attributed the decline in thali prices primarily to a 29 per cent drop on-year in tomato prices, a 15 per cent decrease in onion and a 16 per cent dip in potato prices.

Last year, tomato prices had shot up on concerns of lower yields, potato prices had increased due to crop infestations in West Bengal, while lower rabi acreage and yield, along with low water availability in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, had pushed up the onion prices, it said.

The non-veg thali cost reduction was helped by a 6 per cent drop in the prices of broilers, which have a 50 per cent weightage on the overall cost, the report said, attributing the lower price of chicken to oversupply and lower demand amid bird flu reported in parts of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.

The drop in thali cost would have been higher but for a 19 per cent on-year jump in vegetable oil prices due to a rise in import duty and a 6 per cent rise in the price of liquefied petroleum gas cylinders.

Compared with April, potato prices rose 3 per cent and tomato by 10 per cent, while onion prices declined 10 per cent, due to which the cost of vegetarian thali was down marginally, the report said.

There was a 4 per cent dip in broiler prices on-month as well, which had its impact on the costs, it said.