Thali prices dropped in December 2020, reflecting fall in commodity prices: Economic Survey

The 2019-2020 Economic Survey put forward the novel concept Thalinomics and proposed a new index called Thali Index that looks at prices of vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis.

Thali cost represents the cost of a meal cooked within a household.

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Economic Survey 2021 pointed out that Thali costs have increased between June 2020 and November 2020, but they witnessed a sharp fall in the month of December, reflecting the fall in the prices of many essential food commodities.

According to the survey, Thali cost displayed significant variation among the states. In 2020-21 (Jun-Dec 2020), the most expensive vegetarian Thali in rural areas was in Andaman & Nicobar Islands at Rs 38.7 while the cheapest in rural areas was in Uttar Pradesh at Rs 23.1.

In terms of non-vegetarian Thali during the same period, the most expensive was in Arunachal Pradesh at Rs 48.5 while the cheapest was in Chandigarh (Rs 29.9) in rural areas.

In the same period, the most expensive vegetarian Thali in the urban areas was in Andaman & Nicobar Islands at Rs 40 while the cheapest was in Madhya Pradesh which cost Rs 24.

In terms of non-vegetarian Thali in urban areas during the same period, the most expensive was in Mizoram at Rs 52.4 while the cheapest was in Haryana that cost Rs 28.