Berger Paints Ltd will raise prices of its mass premium and luxury products by up to 10% over the next three weeks, as reported by Mint. The phased increase will begin with 1.5% from March 25, followed by 2-2.5% on March 30 and 4-4.5% on April 9. The economy segment will see hikes only on April 9, leaving it untouched for the initial two phases. According to Mint, the price increases have been implemented in the mass premium and luxury segment, with the economy segment remaining unchanged so far.
The price hikes follow a sharp rise in crude oil prices, a key driver of paint raw material costs. As reported by Mint, Brent crude traded around $98.15 a barrel on Tuesday and has surged as much as 32% since the war started. According to Mint, Abhijit Roy, managing director and CEO, stated that "in order to fully neutralize the impact of raw material price increase, we have to increase the prices of our products." The company believes all competitors have no choice and everyone has declared price increases.
The price increases follow similar actions by rivals including Asian Paints and JSW Dulux, as reported by Mint. According to Mint, Roy noted that "all competitors have no choice…everyone has declared price increases." Amit Purohit, senior vice president at Elara Securities, told Mint that the current round of price hikes are more to do with passing on raw material cost increase rather than causing significant long-term market share gains. The analyst expects a low double-digit increase in the 10-12% range.
Roy believes the West Asia crisis could help Berger strengthen its market position, as reported by Mint. He stated that "prices tend to shoot up then they (smaller players) can't you know take those risks to that extent and hence there is always a suffering for the smaller players in the short run." The company has been expanding its dealer network, particularly in southern and western markets, and aims to end the year with a market share of 19.5-20%. In FY26, it targets a 0.5-1% gain hoping demand grows at a double-digit rate.
