Godrej to up product prices on rising input costs

Consumer goods major Godrej today said it may soon hike prices of its products, mainly soaps, due to a spurt in the input costs.

"I think inflation in commodities is very strong. I think it will lead to price increases in finished products," the company's Chairman Adi Godrej told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

The hike would be mainly in soaps, he said,

Godrej said apart from crude, prices of many commodities like steel, copper, food and vegetable oil have gone up recently. The rate of palm oil, a key ingredient of soaps and mainly imported from Malaysia, has gone up by over 60 per cent in the last six months.

Declining to give any indication on the quantum of price hikes, Godrej said it will not be "very high".

"A lot of the price increases can be absorbed by productivity increases and efficiency improvements, (but) some will have to be passed on (to consumers)."

Amid widespread expectations of a rate hike by the Reserve Bank to tackle headline inflation, Godrej said the apex bank should not tighten the rates scenario further.

"Too much tightening may hurt growth," he maintained.