Veg meals got 11% steeper in September

The cost of a home-cooked vegetarian meal shot up 11% in September as prices of onion, potato and tomato surged yet again in high double-digits, Crisil’s food plate cost tracker showed, suggesting that food inflation may have gone up again last month.

Retail inflation had risen marginally to 3.65% in August, with food inflation ticking up to 5.7%. This was primarily due to prices for vegetables, the third-largest constituent of the Consumer Food Price Index, flaring up 10.7%.

A 51% drop in tomato prices in August had helped moderate vegetarian meal costs 8% in August, but tomato costs resurged 18% last month, Crisil estimated. Onion and potato prices jumped 53% and 50%, marking the 14th and seventh consecutive month of high double-digit upticks, respectively.

The average cost of a vegetarian meal inched up from ₹31.2 in August to ₹31.3 in September. While vegetabes account for about 37% of a vegetarian meal cost, pulses, which constitute 9%, also saw a 14% rise in prices last month, Crisil pointed out.

Meal costs could have gone up further, but for an 11% decline in LPG cylinder costs compared to last September.

For non-vegetarian meals, an estimated decline of 13% on-year in broiler prices, which account for 50% of the non-veg thali cost, provided some relief, bringing costs down 2% from last year.