New Delhi,mar 25
The Indian alcoholic beverage industry is sounding the alarm. Battered by soaring raw material costs triggered by the ongoing Middle East conflict, two of India’s most powerful industry bodies have formally urged state governments to approve significant price hikes of 15 per cent.The Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), the apex body of India’s alcoholic beverage sector, has written to state governments seeking price revisions for Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) products. The body is asking for an increase ranging between Rs 100 and Rs 150 per case of 9 litres, depending on the product segment and bottle weight.Anant S. Iyer, Director General of CIABC, told ANI, “We would like a price increase anywhere ranging from 100 rupees to about 150 rupees, depending on the segment of the product that it operates in.”Meanwhile, the Brewers Association of India (BAI) — the apex body representing beer giants such as United Breweries (a Heineken company), AB InBev, and Carlsberg — has separately appealed to state governments for a Rs 25-30 per case (12 bottles of 650 ml) increase in beer prices.Vinod Giri, Director General of BAI, painted a grim picture of the sector’s finances. “Beer companies are in a loss in many states today. They will not survive if the prices are not increased,” he warned, urging both the government and consumers to share the burden and not put it all on the industry.The trigger for the crisis is clear. The escalating Middle East conflict has sent shockwaves through global supply chains, driving up the cost of crude oil, energy, packaging materials, and industrial inputs that the beverage industry depends on heavily.With the alco-beverage sector contributing close to Rs 350 lakh crore in revenue annually to government coffers, industry leaders argue they deserve urgent policy support. “I hope the government will take a decision in this regard at some point — but that must be immediate and now.
