Budget must focus on lowering inflation, no excise hike: PepsiCo

Global soft drinks and snacks major PepsiCo today said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee must focus on lowering inflation and raising consumer confidence in the upcoming Budget while maintaining consistency in fiscal policy.

"The FMCG industry's key expectations from the Budget include consistency in fiscal policy to enable companies to plan for medium term and thereby aid new investments," PepsiCo India Region CFO Kimsuka Narsimhan said in a statement.

PepsiCo said it leverages its expertise in production efficiencies in order to keep input costs in control and offset the impact of inflation and increased taxation on the consumer.

"It is therefore imperative that budgetary measures focus on lowering inflation and raising consumer confidence for spurring demand and overall industry growth," she added.

The other expectations from the Budget include maintaining excise duty at current levels and managing fiscal deficit by judicious spending, Narsimhan said.

Greater clarity on the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) will also help the industry to plan better, she added.

"Apart from this, budgetary measures should also sustain concessions for agro-based industries to incentivise investments," Narsimhan said.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will unveil the Union Budget for 2012-13 on March 16 in the Lok Sabha.

PepsiCo sells beverage brands like Pepsi, Mirinda, Slice and snacks brands like Uncle Chips, Lays and Cheetos in India.