Business.Business: Prices of tomatoes and chicken fell due to the holy Shravan month, as many people do not eat meat in this month. This led to a reduction in the prices of home-cooked food in August, a report said on Friday. The price of vegetarian food fell by 4 per cent to Rs 31.2 in August from Rs 32.6 per plate in July, down from Rs 34 in August last year, domestic rating agency Crisil reported. The price of a non-vegetarian thali fell by 3 per cent to Rs 59.3 compared to the previous month, up 12 per cent from the previous year, the report said. Tomato prices falling to Rs 50 per kg – a decline of 23 per cent month-on-month and 51 per cent year-on-year – is a major reason for the decline in food prices, Crisil said in its monthly “Roti Chawal Rate” report.
The vegetarian thali includes roti, vegetables (onion, tomato and potato), rice, dal, curd and salad, while the non-veg thali has the price of broiler instead of the price of dal, the agency said. Broiler prices fell by 3 per cent in the month of Shravan as compared to July and by 13 per cent as compared to last year, leading to a sharp decline in food prices compared to last year, the agency said. In addition, a 27 per cent drop in fuel costs due to the reduction in LPG prices earlier this year, as well as a reduction in vegetable oil, chilli and cumin prices also helped reduce food costs compared to last year. The agency said the fall in food prices would have been more but for the increase in onion prices by Rs 15 per kg and potato prices by Rs 13 per kg on a year-on-year basis.
