Consumer durables cos to hike prices of products by up to 3%

NEW DELHI: Leading consumer durables firms Godrej and Videocon on Thursday said they are increasing the prices of its products to offset the high input cost by up to 3 per cent by next month.

"We are planning to increase the prices of our products across categories, including refrigerators and washing machines, from January 1st. The price hike will be between 2-3 per cent," Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Vice President Kamal Nandi told media.

He said the company has decided to increase the prices due to the rising commodity prices of plastics, ferrous and non ferrous metals. "Due to the rising commodity prices, there will impact on our overall cost structure. Out total input cost increases by about 5-6 per cent because of it," Nandi said.

Another leading domestic player Videocon is also understood to be increasing the prices of refrigerators and air conditioners by around 2 per cent. However, the company declined to confirm the development but said that it will look at increasing if the commodity prices continue to soar.

"If the raw material cost continues to increase, we will have to increase the prices of products. But as of now, we have not taken any such step," Videocon Chief Marketing Officer Jaideep Rathore said.

Meanwhile, other consumer durables companies LG and Whirlpool have hiked prices by up to 4 per cent across all the categories with effect from this month. While LG increased prices of its products, including refrigerators, washing machine, micro wave and television within the range of 1 to 4 percent, Whirlpool had raised prices of its products by 2 per cent this month.

"We are seeing a very high input cost. Commodity prices are going up. This is cause of concern on the overall prices of the products," Whirlpool India Vice President - Corporate Affairs and Strategy Shantanu Dasgupta said.

He, however, declined to comment on any further price increase in the immediate future.