Chennai, Jun 6 (IANS): The cost of home-prepared vegetarian thali went up by one per cent and that of non-vegetarian thali went down by the same percentage last month as compared to April, said CRISIL in a report.

On a year-on-year basis, the cost of cooking a vegetarian thali went up by nine per cent last month while that of a non-vegetarian thali declined by seven per cent.

In May this year, the cost of cooking a vegetarian thali at home stood at Rs 27.8 (April rate Rs 27.4) whereas the cost of a non-vegetarian home meal was at Rs 55.9 (April rate Rs 56.3), the report said.

According to CRISIL, a vegetarian thali comprises roti, vegetables (onion, tomato, and potato), rice, dal, curd, and salad. For a non-vegetarian thali, chicken has been considered instead of dal.

The credit rating agency CRISIL said the cost of the vegetarian thali rose marginally and went up 9 per cent in May over April, largely owing to a 9 per cent increase in potato prices, while the cost of other major components broadly remained flat.

“The cost of the non-vegetarian thali decreased as prices of broilers, which account for about 50 per cent of the cost, declined an estimated 2 per cent on a high base,” CRISIL said.

On the other hand, the cost of cooking up vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals at home in May 2023 was Rs 25.5 and Rs 59.9 respectively, said CRISIL.

As per the report, the cost of the vegetarian thali heated up on a yearly basis owing to a surge of 39 per cent, 41 per cent and 43 per cent on-year in the prices of tomato, potato and onion, respectively, largely because of the low base of last fiscal.

“Lower onion arrivals on account of a significant drop in rabi acreage coupled with a decline in potato arrivals on account of the adverse impact of late blight and crop damage in West Bengal contributed towards the increase in prices,” the report notes.

Continuing further the report said that a dip in acreage, resulting in subdued arrivals, led to a 13 per cent on-year increase in the price of rice (accounting for 13 per cent of the vegetarian thali cost), while lower reservoir levels impacted the production of pulses (accounting for 9 per cent of the vegetarian thali cost) leading to a 21 per cent increase in prices on-year.

On the contrary, prices of cumin, chilli and vegetable oil fell 37 per cent, 25 per cent and 8 per cent respectively, preventing a further increase in the cost of the vegetarian thali.

The decline in the cost of the non-vegetarian thali can be attributed to an estimated about 16 per cent drop in broiler prices on-year on a high base of last fiscal, CRISIL said.