Per plate food cost see sharp drop in October as onion, tomato, pulse prices tumbled: Crisil

Home-cooked meals got significantly cheaper in October, with the cost of a vegetarian thali dropping 17% and a non-vegetarian thali nearly 12% year-on-year, according to Crisil’s Roti Rice Rate (RRR) index. The sharp decline was driven by falling prices of key ingredients like vegetables and pulses.

Potato prices were down 31% due to higher Rabi output, while tomatoes slid 40% on strong supplies from western and southern markets. Onion prices saw the steepest fall — down 51% — as traders cleared stocks in anticipation of fresh Kharif arrivals and subdued export demand.

Pulses saw a 17% decline, helped by a surge in imports: Bengal gram imports increased nine-fold, yellow peas by 85%, and black gram by 31%. Meanwhile, vegetable oil prices rose 11% due to festive demand, and LPG prices were up 6%, limiting further declines in thali costs.

The non-veg thali saw a smaller drop as broiler prices, which make up nearly half its cost, declined by only 6%. However, cheaper vegetables and pulses still pulled the overall cost down.

On a month-on-month basis, the decline was modest — vegetarian thali costs eased 1%, while non-veg thalis fell 3%. Tomato and onion prices slipped 8% and 3%, respectively, while broiler prices declined 4% amid oversupply.

Crisil’s RRR tracks the cost of a standard home-cooked thali across regions in India, offering a practical gauge of food inflation’s impact on household budgets.

India’s retail inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), has also remained in a comfortable zone. In September 2025, headline inflation dropped to 1.54% — the lowest since June 2017. This sharp decline is credited to a favorable base effect and falling inflation in key categories such as vegetables, oils and fats, fruits, pulses, cereals, eggs, and fuel.

Retail inflation data for October is expected later this week.