{"id":722434,"date":"2026-08-01T08:17:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T08:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/722434\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T08:17:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T08:17:11","slug":"indian-companies-are-about-to-raise-prices-putting-rbis-inflation-outlook-to-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/722434\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian companies are about to raise prices, putting RBI’s inflation outlook to test"},"content":{"rendered":"

India\u2019s largest consumer companies are gearing to raise prices on products from toothpaste to tires and paint ahead of the festival season and for the second straight quarter, as the prolonged Middle East conflict drives up commodity costs and threatens to keep inflation<\/a> elevated.<\/p>\n

Hindustan Unilever Ltd.<\/a> will have measured price increases over the coming quarter in categories including detergents and dishwashing bars. At least seven other companies, from Dodla Dairy Ltd.<\/a> and Asian Paints Ltd.<\/a>, also plan to raise prices, according to their post-earnings calls and media briefings.
\u201cGiven the external volatility, we continue to see inflation in crude-linked derivatives and are taking calibrated price increases across the segment\u201d for home care products, India\u2019s largest consumer goods firm Hindustan Unilever Chief Financial Officer Niranjan Gupta told analysts this week.<\/p>\n

Consumer prices rose above the Reserve Bank of India\u2019s 4% target for the first time in nearly a year and a half in June as food and fuel costs climbed. Though the gauge remained within the central bank\u2019s 2%-6% tolerance band, price pressures are expected to intensify in the coming months as companies raise prices and a deficient monsoon raises the risk of higher food prices. The RBI<\/a> expects inflation to average 5.1% in the fiscal year ending March 2027.<\/p>\n

Also read | Extreme heat can erase hundreds of thousands of jobs in India’s cities by 2050: World Bank<\/a><\/p>\n

\"ETLive Events
The persistently high energy costs in the wake of the Iran war<\/a> means no quick relief is expected anytime soon. With the US-Iran fight flaring up again, companies are planning a second round of price hikes for everything from home appliances to kitchen staples. Havells India Ltd.<\/a> has raised prices by as much as 8%, while salt from Tata Consumer Products Ltd.<\/a> is pricier by about 7%.
\"graphBloombergThe latest price increases coincide with the incoming local festival season, which typically runs from August to November. This is also when consumer spending typically surges, especially during the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali. The period accounts for nearly a third of annual sales for many companies, raising the likelihood that stronger demand will allow business to pass on higher costs.The price increases will test not just the strength of India\u2019s consumption demand but also its policymakers as they watch inflation pressures closely.Ministry\u2019s WarningThe Reserve Bank of India bank has said it would respond only if inflationary pressures become more broad-based. India\u2019s finance ministry warned Wednesday that price pressures are spreading beyond food, with higher global fuel costs and unfavorable weather feeding through to a wider range of consumer prices.<\/p>\n

The central bank has kept interest rates unchanged this year and is widely expected to do so again when its six-member monetary policy committee meets Aug. 3-5. Economists say the trajectory will depend on whether geopolitical tensions keep oil prices elevated and whether the monsoon damages the summer-sown crop harvest.<\/p>\n

Also read | Unfazed by West Asia crisis, fiscal deficit within range at 18.2% in Q1<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSome price pass-through is inevitable, given the magnitude of input cost pressure and margin pressure on firms,\u201d said Sonal Varma, chief economist for Asia ex-Japan at Nomura Holdings Inc.<\/p>\n

\"graphBloombergDemand has so far been stable across rural and urban India, according to company commentary. A Retailers Association of India survey showed retail sales grew 6% from a year earlier in June, higher than May.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a comfort zone at the moment,\u201d said Arvind Singhal, chairman of consultancy The Knowledge Company. Indicators including goods and services tax collections and highway toll receipts are also holding up, suggesting demand is steady, he said.<\/p>\n

Still, companies are watching for any impact from the price increases, as well as risks from the monsoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the demand has remained stable so far, the forecast of a below normal season, combined with El Nino risk is a reminder that consumption recovery in India rarely moves in a straight line,\u201d Ravi Kant Jaipuria, chairman at Devyani International Ltd.<\/a> that runs KFC and Pizza Hut outlets in India, told analysts Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"India\u2019s largest consumer companies are gearing to raise prices on products from toothpaste to tires and paint ahead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[238763,84,20083,238762,238766,1294,101659,238765,31160,44596,238761,64235,9120,1431,212161,164199,22213,238764,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-722434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-asian-paints-ltd","tag-business","tag-consumer-price-index","tag-devyani-international-ltd","tag-dodla-dairy-ltd","tag-economy","tag-festive-shopping","tag-havells-india-ltd","tag-hindustan-unilever","tag-hindustan-unilever-ltd","tag-india-festival-season","tag-india-inflation","tag-indian-economy","tag-inflation","tag-inflation-in-india","tag-iran-war","tag-rbi","tag-tata-consumer-products-ltd","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}