Liquor industry urges govt to expedite price revision

Hyderabad: The liquor industry is urging the govt to expedite the long-pending price revision for suppliers, citing significant increases in manufacturing and operational costs. The industry has noted a notable escalation in the costs of key inputs, such as PET bottles, labels, caps and cartons. This increase is largely attributed to global factors such as ongoing conflicts, which have led to substantial price hikes in April compared with Feb and March. In the past two months, the costs of essential raw materials per case have increased across various packaging components.For instance, the price of PET bottles rose from 84 to 110.4, an increase of 31.43%. Labels saw an increase from 4.04 to 5, representing a 23.76% increase. Caps increased from 22 to 28, reflecting a rise of 27.27%. Additionally, CC boxes (cartons) went up from 16 to 19, an increase of 18.75%.Furthermore, suppliers have expressed concerns about delayed payments, with cycles extending to 100-120 days. This delay is severely impacting cash flows and increasing interest burdens, they added.