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Time of India
27-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Companies pause packaged food price hikes as input costs stabilise
New Delhi: Makers of grocery staples such as snacks, biscuits and tea have paused price hikes after three back-to-back quarters of 5-10% increases across pack sizes, as key commodity prices like palm oil and wheat stabilise. Executives at companies such as Britannia, Wipro Consumer, Parle Products and Bikaji Foods said they are pausing price increases. Some said they are also bringing back selective consumer promotions to boost sales even as urban demand remains under stress, their executives said. "(While) we see no price reduction or grammage increase in the next couple of quarters, there will be no more price increases for sure," Varun Berry, managing director of Britannia Industries , told ET. While the maker of Nutrichoice biscuits and Laughing Cow cheese did some strategic buying of wheat and flour, most of its commodities are priced at the same level as at the end of FY25, he said. "Flour is just slightly lower than the exit price of last year despite the wheat season," he added. Deepak Agarwal, MD, Bikaji Foods, too, said the snacks firm would not increase prices as some inflation is under control and raw material costs are reducing. "Selective consumer offerings and promotions will be reintroduced to get better market share and momentum," he added. Companies making daily essentials and grocery products had been increasing prices by 5-10% on higher raw material costs while maintaining that they withheld some of the cost pressures amid stagnating sales in cities. With food inflation expected to remain low, company executives expect their retail prices to remain steady. "Core inflation will likely remain range-bound, led by weaker commodity prices, softer growth and a stronger rupee," HSBC Research said in a report released on Monday. This, it said, is a relief for consumers and "may fuel the purchasing power of households." Anil Chugh, president, food business, at Wipro Consumer Care , said the overall food inflation is expected to remain in the region of 3-4% in the coming two quarters. "This is because of commodity prices stabilising, expected good monsoon and companies taking cautious approach to price increases," he said. Wipro Consumer Care makes Nirapara ready-to-cook foods and Granamma snacks. "For 3 quarters, prices were increasing," said Mayank Shah, vice president at Parle Products. "Now the hikes have been paused as some commodities are stable. Some key commodities are still higher than a year ago, but what's happened is that the rate of inflation has come down for now." The food inflation rate dropped to 1.78% year-on-year in April 2025, compared to a year-on-year Consumer Food Price Index of 10.87% in October 2024, according to government data. "Going forward, we expect tea pricing/ tea costs to soften rather than pricing going up (if the tea crop is normal). So, therefore, margins will come back," Sunil D'Souza, managing director, Tata Consumer Products , said in a quarter four post earnings call. NielsenIQ in its January-March quarter update earlier this month had said the FMCG industry grew 11% year-on-year by value, driven by a 5.6% price hike. Growth of packaged foods slowed to 4.9% in the January-March quarter compared to 6% in the fourth quarter of 2024, which the report attributed to declining lower volumes in edible oils and palm oil, impacted by higher prices. The past three quarters had seen surging prices of wheat (which increased 17.4% year-on-year in the March quarter), palm oil (17.2%) and cocoa (78%).
Time of India
26-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Companies pause packaged food price hikes as input costs stabilise
New Delhi: Makers of grocery staples such as snacks, biscuits and tea have paused price hikes after three back-to-back quarters of 5-10% increases across pack sizes, as key commodity prices like palm oil and wheat stabilise. Executives at companies such as Britannia, Wipro Consumer, Parle Products and Bikaji Foods said they are pausing price increases. Some said they are also bringing back selective consumer promotions to boost sales even as urban demand remains under stress, their executives said. "(While) we see no price reduction or grammage increase in the next couple of quarters, there will be no more price increases for sure," Varun Berry, managing director of Britannia Industries , told ET. While the maker of Nutrichoice biscuits and Laughing Cow cheese did some strategic buying of wheat and flour, most of its commodities are priced at the same level as at the end of FY25, he said. "Flour is just slightly lower than the exit price of last year despite the wheat season," he added. Deepak Agarwal, MD, Bikaji Foods, too, said the snacks firm would not increase prices as some inflation is under control and raw material costs are reducing. "Selective consumer offerings and promotions will be reintroduced to get better market share and momentum," he added. Companies making daily essentials and grocery products had been increasing prices by 5-10% on higher raw material costs while maintaining that they withheld some of the cost pressures amid stagnating sales in cities. With food inflation expected to remain low, company executives expect their retail prices to remain steady. "Core inflation will likely remain range-bound, led by weaker commodity prices, softer growth and a stronger rupee," HSBC Research said in a report released on Monday. This, it said, is a relief for consumers and "may fuel the purchasing power of households." Anil Chugh, president, food business, at Wipro Consumer Care , said the overall food inflation is expected to remain in the region of 3-4% in the coming two quarters. "This is because of commodity prices stabilising, expected good monsoon and companies taking cautious approach to price increases," he said. Wipro Consumer Care makes Nirapara ready-to-cook foods and Granamma snacks. "For 3 quarters, prices were increasing," said Mayank Shah, vice president at Parle Products. "Now the hikes have been paused as some commodities are stable. Some key commodities are still higher than a year ago, but what's happened is that the rate of inflation has come down for now." The food inflation rate dropped to 1.78% year-on-year in April 2025, compared to a year-on-year Consumer Food Price Index of 10.87% in October 2024, according to government data. "Going forward, we expect tea pricing/ tea costs to soften rather than pricing going up (if the tea crop is normal). So, therefore, margins will come back," Sunil D'Souza, managing director, Tata Consumer Products , said in a quarter four post earnings call. NielsenIQ in its January-March quarter update earlier this month had said the FMCG industry grew 11% year-on-year by value, driven by a 5.6% price hike. Growth of packaged foods slowed to 4.9% in the January-March quarter compared to 6% in the fourth quarter of 2024, which the report attributed to declining lower volumes in edible oils and palm oil, impacted by higher prices. The past three quarters had seen surging prices of wheat (which increased 17.4% year-on-year in the March quarter), palm oil (17.2%) and cocoa (78%).
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Time of India
Man booked for illegally stockpiling diesel in Nagpur's Ruikhairi village
Nagpur: Acting on a tip-off, the city cops have registered a case against a man for hoarding and illegally selling diesel in Ruikhairi village. The accused, identified as Feroz Mohammad Aslam Shaikh, aged 27, was allegedly storing the essential commodity at his residence and selling it below the government-fixed price. The operation was led by Nagpur SDPO Deepak Agarwal, who, along with his team, raided the suspect's residence located in Ruikhairi. Upon inspection, police found large quantities of diesel stored in plastic containers. The accused admitted during questioning that he had procured the diesel from truck drivers at a nearby dhaba, bypassing legal supply channels. The police seized 440 liters of diesel worth Rs 46,200 stored in 22 white cans, and an additional 10 litres valued at Rs 1,100 in a separate plastic container. The other items recovered included suction pipes used to siphon fuel, four plastic filters, a tin measuring can, a moped believed to be used for local transportation, and a truck, registered in Maharashtra, which contained another 20 litres of diesel. The total estimated value of the seized items is over Rs 8 lakh. Authorities have booked the accused under relevant sections for illegal storage and sale of essential commodities. Further investigation is under way to identify the truck drivers and any additional individuals involved in the supply chain.
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Cables laid, Ghaziabad set to get 3 new power substations
Ghaziabad: A total of three new 33 kV substations are set to come up in the district by Sept this year. The substations, being built at a cost of around Rs 6-7 crore each, are located in Noor Nagar, Karkar Model, and near the Hindon civil terminal area. Together, they will address the power issues of over 25,000 people in these areas."To improve power supply in the zone 3 area of the Ghaziabad power department, three new 33 kV substations will be built this year. These will provide relief to the people, along with improving the power supply. Land for the construction of these substations has been taken, and work has begun. They will be ready by September this year," Deepak Agarwal, chief engineer, zone 3, Ghaziabad power department, PVVNL, told went on to clarify that the Hindon Airport Substation is not being built for the airport, but for the area around Nagar is a locality in the Raj Nagar Extension (RNE) area of Ghaziabad. At present, electricity is being supplied from two substations in Raj Nagar Extension, but there is a need for a third substation to address issues of overloading and increasing power demand, as there's always a power crisis in the area during peak summers. The new substation set to come up in Noor Nagar is therefore planned to take the load of the existing two substations in the RNE area.."The power situation of RNE is expected to improve after the construction of the third substation. The work of laying power cables for about 5km for the substation is done," said an official of the power Nagar Extension and its neighbouring areas are home to around 18,000 consumers.A 6km line is currently being laid from the Hindon Airport substation. Supply from the substation is set to benefit around 7,000 consumers in areas like Sikandpur, Garima Garden, and Pasunda. Previously, power supply to these areas was being supplied from substations in Lajpat Nagar and Rajendra Nagar, which faced perpetual problems of overloading, leading to frequent snags and transformer substation in Karkar Model industrial area is expected to provide better supply to around 5,000 consumers in the nearby industrial and residential areas. This substation is expected to take the load off the Maharajpur 3 and Ambika substations."During peak summers, people have to face a power crisis when the demand increases. In such a situation, after the construction of new substations, the distribution network will strengthen in these areas, which will address issues of outages due to overloading and bring relief to the people," Aggarwal added.
Time of India
02-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Rise of India's chief AI officers, firms navigate AI leadership role overlaps
AI generated image BENGALURU: As the technology landscape in India evolves swiftly, there is a discernible increase in the appointment of chief AI officers (CAIO) to supervise AI initiatives and strategy. The advent of such roles highlights the importance of embedding AI within core operations and an increased focus on AI-driven transformation . Firms are presently navigating the transition towards reducing friction and overlaps among leadership positions within the CDO, CTO, and CIO offices. Recently, LinkedIn announced the appointment of Deepak Agarwal as their new chief AI officer. In the previous year, Yotta Data Services introduced Anil Pawar as their chief AI officer, entrusting him with the responsibility of directing strategic initiatives in the AI cloud business unit, with a particular focus on leveraging AI, cloud, and platform technologies to deliver significant value to customers. Jindal Steel and Power brought in former BharatPe chief data officer Ritesh Mohan Srivastava as their CAIO. In another recent move, Motilal Oswal Financial Service selected Siddharth Sureka for the CAIO position, while asset management entity Mirae Asset Global Investments appointed Nishant Pradhan as their chief AI officer. SAP Labs India named Sudhakar Singh as chief AI security officer , with a remit to lead trustworthy AI initiatives for SAP Business AI. Singh's focus will be on cybersecurity, data privacy, AI regulations, and compliance within the SAP Business AI portfolio. AI unicorn Fractal Analytics appointed Ajoy Singh as its chief AI officer. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Forget Hearing Aids: This Simple Spray Changes Everything Stop Hearing Loss Learn More Undo Singh commented, 'While there is a CEO and board-level recognition about the transformative power of AI, it is also true that the field of AI is rapidly changing and there is a talent gap across levels, especially at senior levels. We are seeing more and more companies creating AI leadership roles like CAIO or Head of AI. The role of CAIO is still evolving and there are some overlaps with roles of CDO, CIO, CTO. ' According to Singh, the primary responsibility of the CAIO includes setting the AI roadmap in line with business strategy, developing a pipeline of use cases, defining architectural decisions regarding foundation models, GenAI platforms and tools, and collaborating with the CDO/CIO to create a data foundation for AI/GenAI. CAIOs are also crucial in AI governance and responsible AI. Singh added, 'In Fractal's context, the CAIO is focused on bringing all the elements of the role to create impact in Fractal's client organisation. ' Phil Fersht, CEO of US-based IT advisory HfS Research, observed that most Indian heritage service providers are treating AI as another technology implementation, rather than a more extensive and meaningful business transformation. He noted, 'The core issue is the providers are too grounded in the walls of the CIO's office and are struggling to develop the capabilities to support C-Suite leaders that are hugely impacted by AI, such as the CFO and CMO. Creating more fancy job titles only works if these executives can broaden their engagement beyond the legacy IT business.' Jayant Saran, partner at Deloitte India, noted that although chief information officers and chief information security officers are both linked to IT, their main responsibilities vary substantially. 'Similarly, regarding AI, the position of an AI officer is likely to become distinct. This mirrors the historical progression where cybersecurity, initially supervised by the chief information officer, evolved into a distinct role with the CISO previously being part of the CIO's organisational structure. Currently, whilst there is substantial discussion about responsible AI and trustworthy AI frameworks, these responsibilities primarily fall under the Chief AI Officer's purview, encompassing areas of experimentation, innovation, and ensuring the reliability and responsibility of AI platforms.' Anurag Malik, partner and leader – people consulting at EY India, said, 'My sense is that it's still fairly early-stage in most organisations. The idea starts with identifying sharp accountability for AI — whether you're calling it a chief AI officer or placing it under the chief data officer. But there's another very interesting dimension we're seeing around AI, especially when it comes to roles. A lot of organisations today are asking: Can I cluster my entire workforce into four AI personas? These personas are based on the role people are expected to play when it comes to AI. ' Malik has classified these roles as AI Ambassadors, who are the most senior executives, often at the CXO level, sponsoring AI initiatives and steering strategic direction. The second category is AI champions. 'Can I identify a few people in every functional area who are champions for AI implementation? For instance, Who's my AI champion for Finance? Who are the AI champions for supply chain? These aren't necessarily data scientists, but they understand both AI and the function well enough to identify relevant use cases and drive implementation locally. Think of them as translators between business needs and AI potential,' said Malik. AI specialists originate from diverse technology backgrounds, necessitating additional training to specialise in artificial intelligence deployment. These individuals undergo focused re-skilling or upskilling programmes to build expertise in AI implementation. General AI practitioners possess fundamental knowledge of AI concepts. Their training enables them to collaborate effectively with AI systems, even if they are not creating AI models themselves. Malik explained, 'The goal of defining these personas is twofold: to break AI implementation out of silos, and to create a culture where everyone—from leadership to the shop floor—has a role to play in AI adoption. It also helps with reskilling. Instead of a one-size-fits-all training approach, you tailor capability building based on the persona.' Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
