Vegetarian food plate prices rose 7% in February, driven by a spurt in onion and tomato prices, even as non-vegetarian plate costs slid 9% from a year earlier, as per Crisil’s monthly report on food plate costs titled ‘Roti Rice Rate’.
Thalinomics: The economics of a plate of food in India” – is an attempt to quantify what a common person pays for a Thali across India.
As food is a necessity, a rapid rise in the price of a Thali has the most direct and conspicuous effect on the common man.
Indeed, food and beverages constitute around 45.9 per cent in the Consumer Price IndexCombined.
The most effective way, therefore, to communicate the trends in prices to the common man is through the cost incurred in putting together one complete, homemade meal – the Indian Thali.