India has recorded 1.24 to 1.3% index points increase in the vegetable price category in May 2025, due to climate change.

According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on May 21, temperature rises contributed 1.3% price increment while ample rainfall 1.24%.

RBI’s State of the Economy bulletin highlighted how both rainfall and temperatures sent price shockwaves at diverse times. The bulletin also mentioned how temperature and rain acting together can cause high inflation.

India enjoyed good monsoon rainfall over late 2024, a windfall for rainfall-reliant crops such as Rabi season (autumn) wheat.

The rains brought a surplus in the production of cereals and Rabi oilseeds, whose prices went generally downward.

Only wheat with a harvest timing of February through May, and vegetables, resisted the mandi (wholesale market) price reduction.

Enter Vegetables

Vegetables in particular are highly sensitive to India’s food economy for they represent 6.04% of the CPI.

Since foods hold 45.86% retail inflation share, increments in the pricing of a major commodity like vegetables can be significant. 

For the 2024-25 fiscal year, the consumer price index rose by 4%, reaching a high of 6.21% in October 2024.

Data by the National Horticulture Board shows certain vegetables such as cabbage in wholesale and retail markets as slightly expensive May 2025.

For instance in Hyderabad, southern India, retail cabbage cost 5,500 rupees ($64.52) a quintal in May versus 5,000 rupees ($63.50) in April. 

The Reserve Bank now recommends the buffering of price shocks by adopting climate-resilient seeds.

Notably, India already prioritizes seed provision in its yearly budget under the National Mission on High Yielding Seeds. This is one of the new intervention measures that the national budget promised for the 2025-26 fiscal timeline. To learn more on how vegetable pricing fits the historical framework, read on the price index statistics below. 

India’s Vegetable Price Index Statistics

India has generally seen an increase in vegetable prices in recent years, per index measures between 2011 to date.  By 2022, the vegetable price index was 76% higher than a decade earlier in 2012. It reached a decade-high in October 2022 at 199.7 points vis-á-vis a period low of 150 points in February 2023.  

In a nutshell, the vegetable price index in India averaged 152.8 points between 2011 and March 2025, according to CEIC. 

Which vegetables in India hold the highest price index?

Spices lead the consumer price index for vegetables in India at 223.9 points, as of February 2025. In all food categories for February 2025, only meat/fish at 222.6 points and prepared snacks at 207.7 points come close. Vegetables in general have a combined price index of 193.4 points (February 2025), below cereals’ 200 index points. 

Are vegetables more expensive in India’s urban centers than rural?

Urban centers in India generally have higher purchasing power than rural areas. In the 2011-23 context, the vegetable CPI in urban centers peaked at 228.6 points while the rural one reached 184.8 points.