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| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
India’s food inflation may have hardened further in May, as the average cost of a home-cooked vegetarian meal in India surged 9% compared with 8% in April to hit a four-month high. Tomato, onion, and potato prices surged around 40%, while the inflation in rice and pulses remained firm, as per Crisil’s monthly tracker of food costs.
Food inflation, as measured by the official retail price rise gauge — the Consumer Price Index (CPI), had surged to a four-month high of 8.7% in April from 8.5% in March, with rural consumers witnessing a sharper uptick of 8.75%. Overall retail inflation stood at 4.83% in April. The National Statistical Office will release the CPI numbers for May on June 12.
The cost of a non-vegetarian meal dropped 7% last month as broiler prices fell 16% from last May’s high levels, but still stood at the second-highest level in five months at ₹55.9. Vegetarian meals cost an average of ₹27.8 per person in May, up slightly from ₹27.4 in April, the Crisil Market Intelligence & Analytics’ Roti Rice Rate report reckoned.
There was a price rise of 39%, 41% and 43% in tomato, potato and onion, respectively. This signals a minor softening in tomato inflation which was 40% in April, while potato and onion prices rose faster than the 38% and 40% recorded in the previous month.
“Lower onion arrivals on account of a significant drop in rabi acreage coupled with a decline in potato arrivals on account of the adverse impact of late blight and crop damage in West Bengal contributed towards the increase in prices,” the Crisil report noted.
Prices for rice, which constitutes 13% of a vegetarian meal cost, and pulses, which account for another 9% of the cost, were up 13% and 21%, respectively, in May. Cumin, chilli and vegetable oil prices fell 37%, 25% and 8%, respectively, in May, offsetting the spikes in other components of a vegetarian meal.
Sequentially, the cost of a vegetarian food plate rose by 1% over April, largely owing to a 9% increase in potato prices, while the cost of other major components broadly remained flat, the report said.
