Why is it in the news?

• Cost of vegetarian thali increased by 24.26% to Rs 33.8 and Non-vegetarian thali cost rose by 12.54% to Rs 67.3.
• Additionally, monthly cost for a family of five: Rs 1,980 for vegetarian thali, Rs 2,250 for non-veg thali.

About Thalinomics

• Thalinomics” refers to the economics of a plate of food in India, which aims to quantify the cost of a common person’s meal (Thali) across the country.
• Thali meals consist of:
• Vegetarian thali: roti, vegetables (onion, tomato, potato), rice, dal, curd, salad.
• Non-vegetarian thali: same items, with chicken replacing dal.

Price rise driven by

• Tomato prices surged 176%, contributing to a 21% increase in vegetarian thali cost.
• Other factors include an 8% rise in onion prices, 20% in chilli prices, and 158% in cumin prices.

Food inflation remains a concern

• Expected retail inflation in August around 7%, well above the RBI’s 4% comfort level.
• Tomato, onion, and potato prices, while individually having low CPI inflation weights, collectively contribute significantly to inflation variability due to inelastic demand and susceptibility to supply shocks.
• Vegetable price fluctuations influenced by factors like rainfall, heatwaves, mandi strikes, speculation, and hoarding.
• Tomato price volatility impacts overall inflation but is typically short-lived, with considerable seasonal price variations.