Leading appliance makers have reduced prices of room air conditioners by up to Rs 4,500 and on dishwashers by up to Rs 8,000, with new rates set to be rolled out from Monday as companies extend GST benefits to consumers.
The companies, in turn, are expecting a double-digit increase in sales during the festival season, with Navratra starting this week. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said with the slew of GST reforms set to come into effect from September 22, a total of Rs 2 lakh crore will be in the hands of the people, boosting domestic consumption. The Finance Minister was speaking at the 80th anniversary of the
Tamil Nadu Foodgrains Merchants Association in Madurai on Friday.
Leading players, such as Voltas, Daikin, Godrej Appliances, Panasonic, and Haier, have already come out with a new revised price list, which will be applicable from Monday, September 22, when the revised GST rates take effect.
Some AC manufacturers, along with their dealers, had started pre-booking of units at reduced prices, anticipating pent-up demand as lower GST rates take effect next week, and are quite buoyed by the initial consumers’ response.
Besides room AC, they have also extended GST benefits to their variable refrigerant volume (VRF) air conditioners, which are meant for large buildings or small commercial setups, along with light commercial air conditioners (cassette type split AC) and tower AC. Godrej Appliance is reducing MRP ranging between Rs 8,550 and Rs 12,450 on cassettes and tower ACs. While on split AC inverter MRP reduction is ranging from Rs 3,200 to Rs 5,900.
Haier has reduced MRP of its Gravity (1.6 ton inverter) AC by Rs 3,905 to Rs 46,085 and Rs 3,202 on Kinouchi AI (1.5 ton 4 star) AC to Rs 37,788. Earlier this month, the GST Council had decided to reduce duty on air conditioners and dishwashers from 28 per cent to 18 per cent. Leading RAC maker Voltas has reduced MRP of its fixed speed window AC to Rs 39,590 from Rs 42,990 and its inverter window AC to Rs 43,290 from Rs 46,990.
Dishwashers makers, too, brought down prices, extending GST benefits to consumers. Makers are expecting this niche segment to expand its base as it will become affordable for its mainly urban consumers.
GCMMF, which markets dairy items under Amul brand announced reduction of retail prices of more than 700 product packs, including ghee, butter ice cream, bakery and frozen snacks, as it decided to pass on benefits of the GST rate cut to consumers. “This revision is across the range of product categories like butter, ghee, UHT milk, ice cream, cheese, paneer, chocolates, bakery range, frozen dairy and potato snacks, condensed milk, peanut spread, malt-based drink, etc,” GCMMF said. The MRP of butter (100 gm) has been reduced to Rs 58 from Rs 62. Ghee rates have been cut by Rs 40 to Rs 610 per litre.