Nearly half of Indian egg consumers surveyed reduced purchase quantity or frequency due to price rises over six months, according to a LocalCircles survey released on Wednesday. The survey received more than 67,000 responses from consumers across 287 districts. About 62% of respondents said egg prices had increased by 10-50% during the six-month period, while 84% reported an increase of some degree. Of the 21,469 consumers who answered the price question, 31% estimated an increase of 10-25% and another 31% reported a rise of 25-50%. A further 22% said prices had risen by up to 10%, while 16% were unable to estimate the increase. The survey found that 48% of the 19,638 respondents who described their household response to higher prices had reduced either the quantity or frequency of egg purchases, while 10% had shifted to cheaper alternatives or suppliers. Another 37% continued to purchase the same quantity despite the increase, and only 5% said they had not experienced a significant increase. Notably, no respondent said they had stopped buying eggs altogether, indicating the egg remains a critical component of household diets despite rising costs.
The report said ex-farm egg prices had climbed to around ₹7 per egg from approximately ₹4.94 a year earlier, representing a 35-40% increase at the farm gate. Retail prices were generally between ₹8.50 and ₹9 per egg and had reached nearly ₹14 on some online platforms. The price increase has created significant challenges for government feeding programmes, with schools and anganwadi centres in Odisha reportedly paying ₹9-10 for an egg against a government-fixed rate of ₹7. The latest data shows egg prices in India rose nearly 40% over the past year, with Abhi Eggs, a branded egg producer, expecting a further 15-20% rise in input costs by December. The survey reveals that for many families, the response to rising prices is not elimination but stretching purchases - buying fewer eggs, buying them less often, or finding cheaper sources. This matters because the egg has long occupied a particular place in the household food basket as a relatively affordable source of animal protein, making cutting back a matter of changing breakfast preferences rather than eliminating it entirely.
The price increase was largely attributed to higher poultry-feed costs and supply disruptions. Feed accounts for an estimated 65-70% of egg-production costs, with maize comprising more than half of poultry feed. Maize prices have risen to about ₹26,500 per tonne from roughly ₹14,000 three years ago, while soybean meal has climbed to around ₹65,000 per tonne and de-oiled rice bran has risen to ₹22,000 from ₹12,000. Abhi Eggs co-founder S.V.V. Dora Reddy told NDTV Profit that the company has scaled back promotional discounts and offers to manage the impact, keeping the sticker-price increase to 6-7% even as input costs have risen faster. The company is also holding the line on its feed formula despite the pressure, saying they are not shifting to cheaper alternatives such as broken rice, wheat or soymeal, calling their existing formula central to product quality and consumer trust. Some long-standing vendor contracts are not always being fully honoured amid the pressure, even as the company works to maintain continuity of supply.
Concerns about egg quality and adulteration were widespread, with 70% of respondents saying they were very concerned and 20% somewhat concerned. Only 4% expressed little or no concern, while 2% said they were not concerned at all. That means 90% expressed some level of concern about egg adulteration. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India had ordered a nationwide surveillance drive after a consumer group's laboratory test reportedly detected traces of nitrofuran metabolites in a batch of branded eggs in December 2025. FSSAI subsequently clarified that eggs are safe to consume and described claims linking them to cancer as misleading and scientifically unsupported. A bigger challenge lies in the way most eggs are sold - much of the Indian market consists of loose, unbranded eggs that generally do not carry details such as the date of laying, grade, farm identity or source. This makes it difficult for consumers to know where an egg came from or trace it if something goes wrong, particularly when households looking to save money gravitate towards the cheapest eggs available where information about origin and traceability can be limited.
LocalCircles called for clearer labelling of the date of lay, grade and source of eggs. It also recommended protecting maize supplies for poultry, reviewing ethanol-blending targets and easing maize imports as an interim measure. The survey highlighted the growing use of maize for ethanol production as one factor affecting its availability to the poultry sector, contributing to the overall price pressures in the egg market. CA Aditya Sesh, a member of the Expert Committee on eNWRs at the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, recommends an MSP-linked market assurance mechanism over a full FCI-style procurement system, allowing poultry companies to contract directly with farmers and FPOs. He favours calibration instead of capping ethanol distilleries' maize offtake, pointing to how sugarcane diversion to ethanol is already adjusted seasonally when domestic sugar supply tightens. His central recommendation is an annual maize balance sheet from the government, tracking production, stocks and demand across poultry, cattle feed, starch, food, exports and ethanol. The objective should be more maize, higher farmer income, predictable feed prices and secure domestic energy, all supported by transparent markets rather than competing ministries reacting after prices rise.
