Cost of home-cooked meals moderately higher in August, says report

The cost of home-cooked meals rose moderately in August, a report said on Tuesday. The cost of a vegetarian meal increased 1 per cent year-on-year and month-on-month to Rs 29.5 per thali, the monthly report by the research arm of domestic rating agency Crisil said.

In the case of a non-vegetarian meal, a 10 per cent jump in broiler prices pushed up the cost of a thali by 5 per cent year-on-year to Rs 57.5, the report by Crisil Intelligence said. However, the price was 1 per cent lower from Rs 58.3 in July. Compared with last year, elevated prices of onion, vegetable oil, rice and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) kept the thali cost high despite a decline in potato and tomato prices, it said in the ‘Roti Rice Rate’ report. 

Onion prices jumped 43 per cent in August 2026 to Rs 40 per kg, compared with the year-ago period’s Rs 28 per kg, due to supply tightness caused by unseasonal rains and hailstorms in Maharashtra in March-April, it said, adding that there was an 11 per cent jump in vegetable oils and 10 per cent rise in LPG. However, a 12 per cent decline in potato prices and a 28 per cent fall in tomato prices helped limit the overall increase in costs of the thalis, it added.  “In the next 2-3 months, onion prices are expected to remain firm due to tight rabi supplies and delayed kharif arrivals,” its director Pushan Sharma said.

Month-on-month, there was a 17 per cent jump in onion prices, but the impact of the same was limited by a 7 per cent decline in tomato prices, it said.

The Shravan month, considered by the Hindus as holy, led to a 4 per cent decline in broiler prices, resulting in the 1 per cent month-on-month decline in the price of the non-veg thali, it said.