A free bunch of dhaniya is perhaps one of the biggest small wins for an Indian out buying vegetables. But that little extra is getting expensive. Coriander prices have crossed ₹220 a kg in some markets after heavy rains disrupted supplies, while prices of other aromats like ginger, garlic and onions have also jumped from a year earlier.
The rise in these everyday kitchen staples comes as India's food inflation climbed to 5.52% in July from 5.32% in June. But the pressure is not spread evenly across the vegetable basket: potato prices fell 16.56% year-on-year, while tomatoes and peas also became cheaper. Rice and sugar prices, meanwhile, are beginning to add to the pressure, making the food-price picture more complicated than a conventional onion-tomato-potato spike.
The result is a food basket where some of the most visible pressure is coming from ingredients used in everyday cooking rather than from the usual potato-tomato combination.
