In India, prices of home appliances reportedly set to rise after weak Indian Rupee raised input costs for manufacturers

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• Several consumer durable manufacturers are reportedly looking to raise the prices for televisions, fridges and home appliances to a 5% - 7%.
  
• The price hike is seen as a move to overcome the higher input costs incurred due to depreciation of Indian rupee against the US Dollar along with the recent hike in custom duty.
  
• Indian manufacturers have seen subdued sales recently, according to Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA).

After reviewing their recent festival season sales, many consumer durable manufacturers in India are now planning to increase the prices of TV, fridge and home appliances in the coming months, the Press Trust of India reported citing industry players.

With the exception of washing machines, the consumer and electronic appliances have seen sluggish growth in last few months with weaker-than-expected volumes of televisions and ACs sales coinciding with a weak currency and the increase in custom duty, which have both affected the input costs for the manufacturers, according to the report.

The rise in Indian rupee cost has lead to higher input costs over the last few months, hence the current market situation demands a 5% - 7% hike in the prices from next month, PTI reported citing Manish Sharma, Panasonic India President and CEO.

Higher oil prices led to many months of depreciation in the Indian rupee. In October, the rupee touched 73.81 per dollar because of strong dollar demand from importers. The government, in September, had doubled the tariff on import and export for items including ACs, refrigerator and washing machines to 20% from 10% basic custom duty earlier.

The price hike will be rolled out after the festive season when Indian consumers are known to make big-ticket purchases with nearly one-third of industry sales coming from the festival sales alone.

Earlier in September, a marginal increase of a 3% - 4% in the prices had been implemented but it did not get materialised, Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA) said.

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