Page 549 - ES 2020-21_Volume-1-2 [28-01-21]

176 Economic Survey 2020-21 Volume 2

Box 2: Thalinomics: Cost of a plate of food in 2020-21

The Economic Survey, 2019-20 Volume-I put forth a novel concept of a thali in the Chapter
titled “Thalinomics”: The Economics of a Plate of Food in India. Using the methodology

prescribed in the chapter and using the recommended dietary allowances of cereal, pulses/
meat, vegetable, spices, edible oil and fuel based on the dietary guidelines prescribed for an
Indian adult male heavy worker (NIN, 2011), the NSO has compiled the Thali index using
the data collected by NSO for CPI-C. The State-wise shares within cereals, pulses etc. are
decided as per the Consumption Expenditure Survey 68 Round data (2011-12). PDS prices
th
for both rural and urban sectors and prices of items canvassed in respect of affluent markets in
urban areas, have been excluded. It may be noted that excluding PDS consumption does have
some challenges. Thali cost represents the cost of a meal cooked within household but as it
excludes PDS consumption is wholly based on the transactional prices of the said components
of thali, it may be true that the actual cost for a real household may differ from that computed
here and may be dependent on the efficacy of the PDS system in a State. The following figures
shows the trends in thali cost at All-India level for Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian thalis
since April 2019. While Thali cost have increased between June 2020 and November 2020,
they witnessed a sharp fall in the month of December reflecting the fall in the prices of many
essential food commodities.

All-India Thali Costs

Source: NSO
Note: 1. Thali cost for the months of April, 2020 & May, 2020 are not compiled as sufficient price data was not
available due to lockdown situation of COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Thali cost represents the cost of a meal cooked within household but excludes PDS consumption and
may therefore differ from the actual cost for a real household.
Thali costs displayed much variation among the states. In 2020-21(Jun-Dec, 2020), the
most expensive Veg thali in the rural areas was in Andaman & Nicobar Islands (` 38.7)
while the cheapest in rural areas was in Uttar Pradesh (` 23.1). In terms of Non-Veg thali