Ready-to-eat meals at rocking prices
Your ready-to-eat meals will get cheaper by Rs 1-5 , following finance minister P Chidambaram’s waiving off excise duty for ready-to-eat meals and instant food mixes in the Budget 2007-08 .
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: Your ready-to-eat meals will get cheaper by Rs 1-5 , following finance minister P Chidambaram’s waiving off excise duty for ready-to-eat meals and instant food mixes in the Budget 2007-08 . However, biscuit makers are waiting for Parle, the market leader in glucose biscuits category — the beneficiaries of the excise waiver — to announce a price cut, before following suit.
Says Kohinoor Foods CFO Rajeev Mangla, “From April, we will cut prices of ready-to-eat meals and instant mixes by Rs 4-5 per packet which cost Rs 40-45 now. The excise duty exemption will make the product more affordable and hence, expand the market.”
MTR Foods, on the other hand, will cut prices of its highest-selling rawa idli and gulab jamun mixes by a mere Re 1. “It is going to be a symbolic correction as the excise exemption will be offset by our not being eligible anymore for Cenvat credit,” said a senior MTR official.
The finance minister also announced an excise duty waiver for biscuits with a retail price of up to Rs 50 per kg, which have attracted an excise duty of 8%, so far. The biggest beneficiary will be Parle Products because glucose biscuits account for about 75% of its production.
Market leader Parle is not yet clear about its move and other players are waiting for it to cut prices before taking any step. Said BP Agarwal, MD of Surya Foods, “We will neither decrease prices of our biscuits nor increase grammage per pack. The Budget announcement will benefit only those biscuits manufacturers which operate in the sub-Rs 50 per kg category such as Parle and Britannia. There is nothing positive for us.”
Says Kohinoor Foods CFO Rajeev Mangla, “From April, we will cut prices of ready-to-eat meals and instant mixes by Rs 4-5 per packet which cost Rs 40-45 now. The excise duty exemption will make the product more affordable and hence, expand the market.”
MTR Foods, on the other hand, will cut prices of its highest-selling rawa idli and gulab jamun mixes by a mere Re 1. “It is going to be a symbolic correction as the excise exemption will be offset by our not being eligible anymore for Cenvat credit,” said a senior MTR official.
The finance minister also announced an excise duty waiver for biscuits with a retail price of up to Rs 50 per kg, which have attracted an excise duty of 8%, so far. The biggest beneficiary will be Parle Products because glucose biscuits account for about 75% of its production.
Market leader Parle is not yet clear about its move and other players are waiting for it to cut prices before taking any step. Said BP Agarwal, MD of Surya Foods, “We will neither decrease prices of our biscuits nor increase grammage per pack. The Budget announcement will benefit only those biscuits manufacturers which operate in the sub-Rs 50 per kg category such as Parle and Britannia. There is nothing positive for us.”
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