Kerala: Ordinance to fix price of bottled water at Rs 13

Thiruvananthapuram: The   LDF government has decided to issue  an ordinance fixing  the price of bottled drinking water at Rs 13.   Food and Civil Supplies Minister P. Thilothaman took this decision after  holding  talks with the Kerala Bottled Water Manufacturers’ Association here on Thursday. Bottled drinking water will be included in the Essential Articles Control Act.

Stringent action will be taken against companies that violate the order.  There were complaints that bottled water was being sold at Rs 20, though the price earlier was  Rs 10. “The manufacturers hiked the price citing that the cost of essential goods had shot up due to the fuel price hike.  Hence, the  government has decided to bring it under essential goods

Once it is imposed,  the traders and manufacturers cannot demand inflated price for bottled water,” said Mr Thilothaman. The drinking water manufacturing companies had  decided to sell bottled water at Rs. 12 per litre from April 2. But this was sabotaged by distributors and vendors  saying that their profit margins would be hit. The decision to reduce the price  was taken by Kerala Bottled Water Manufacturers’ Association  comprising   105 companies. There are about 154 drinking water manufacturing companies in Kerala. Non-members were not ready to reduce the price initially.