Ludhiana bread and biscuits to cost more

Major players in bread manufacturing in Ludhiana, such as Bonn, Kitty Bread and Cremica, have increased the prices of their products by 20 per cent, from the first week of September.

Hence, their customers in Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttaranchal will now have to pay more for bread and biscuits.

A 400-gm white bread loaf is now priced at Rs 12 instead of its earlier price of Rs 10, while the brown bread of same weight has been increased from Rs 12 to Rs 14.

The prices of biscuits manufactured by all the above-mentioned companies have also been hiked by 10 to 20 per cent, again citing the same reason of increased raw material prices.

Speaking to Business Standard, Ramesh Maggoo, owner of Kitty Bread and also the vice-president of All India Bread Manufacturers' Association, said the prices had been hiked after two years because the prices of raw materials, such as maida (flour), sugar and ghee, had gone up too much.

"Also, the price of diesel, which is needed to transport the products to other states, is up considerably. We have planned the hike in April this month, but delayed it thinking the government may control the wheat prices. Instead, the prices increased further. So, we took this decision," he added.

"Maida, a wheat byproduct available at Rs 9 per kg till a few months back, is now priced at Rs 12.5 per kg, while the sugar prices have increased from Rs 15-16 a kg to Rs 20 per kg. Diesel price has increased by more than Rs 8 per litre in the last one year. Prices of ghee have increased from Rs 40-42 a kg to Rs 50-55 a kg," he said.

Members of the India Bread Manufacturers' Association said the major players in bread production in Mumbai, Britannia and Wibbs, had also increased the price of a 400g loaf to Rs 13. However, there was no hike in the prices in Delhi as of now, they added.