Effort on to reduce paints price by 10 pc:IPA

The Indian Paints Association (IPA) today said effort was on to reduce the paints price by 10 per cent to pass on the Goods and Services tax (GST) benefit to the consumers.

The GST on paints and varnishes has been reduced to 18 per cent from 28 per cent with effect from July 27.

"Though, we have not received the fine print, but we are making efforts to pass on the full benefit of GST to the consumers. But it cannot be done due to some other factors," IPA vice-president S Mahesh Anand said here on the sidelines of the AGM.

Given the anti-profiteering provisions, companies are expected to pass this benefit on to consumers in the form of price cuts.

The cost of inputs like crude-based monomers and titanium dioxide have remained high for the past few quarters.

In a bid to protect their margin, paint companies raised prices by around 5.5 per cent in two trances in March and June 2018, Anand said.

Speaking about the industry outlook, Anand said with the GST reduction the paint sector was expected to get additional push of 3-4 per cent to register double digit growth.

In 2017-18, the paint industry expanded at around nine per cent to about Rs 52,000 crore.