Consumer goods too cost more

CHENNAI: Planning to buy an air conditioner to beat the heat? Well, it may cost more than you budgeted. It is not only the price of perishable goods that has shot up this year, consumer durables, including tablet computers, air conditioners, refrigerators, television sets and microwave ovens are more expensive now.According to the owner of an electronic goods retail chain, the cost of almost all brands of home products has increased by 10 to 15 per cent. He attributes it to the near lethal mix of a rise in import duty, on both finished goods and raw materials, and the a fall in the value of the rupee. “At some of our stores we have seen a significant drop in the sale of air conditioners. It is obvious that people are cutting back,” he said. A two-tonne AC which was approximately Rs 34,000 last summer, now costs about Rs 40,000 and a 320-litre refrigerator which was Rs 28,000, now costs Rs 32,000.“We have done our best to efficiently manage the supply chain,” said a supplier of tablet computers who imports his products from Korea, China and Taiwan. “However, our computers cost up to 7 per cent more than they did in October 2011.”