Why is the FMCG sector languishing even as the economy is growing at over 9%?
I tend to disagree. The economy is growing at 9% in real terms. In nominal terms the economy is growing at 13% with 4% inflation. In rupee terms the economy is growing at 13%. This year, the FMCG industry is growing at that level. So somewhere around 12-13%, the FMCG sector is growing at the same rate as nominal GDP. But we have been growing at a faster rate. Our organic growth rate is about 18%. All our FMCG business including acquisitions grew at 35%. Have you got a handle on the pricing power? We do have reasonable pricing power. Nobody has absolute pricing power. We have competitors and consumers to contend with. Clearly we cant just raise prices. Obviously if costs go up and competitors are also affected we are able to raise prices. Let us put it this way: Nobody is going to irresponsibly raise prices. Price increases, to my mind, will come only as a result of cost increases. Productivity wise we are improving all the time. For example vegetable oil prices have risen and that has
