Thane: Bakers hike bread prices by Rs 3 in Badlapur due to rising cost of raw materials

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Residents of Thane district's Badlapur in Maharashtra have to pay more for a loaf of bread as the area's bakery owner's association hiked the price of the staple food item from Rs 20 to Rs 23 from Tuesday, PTI reported.

The increased cost of raw materials has left them with no option but to revise the prices, says Ayub Gadkari, the office-bearer of Kulgaon-Badlapur Bakery Owners Welfare Association.

"The cost of flour, oil, and other ingredients has gone up by nearly 20 per cent over the past year. We've held off raising prices for as long as we could, but the situation has now become unsustainable," said a member of the association.

Bread is consumed on a daily basis in various forms by a large number of households. The increase in price is likely to impact families as well as small businesses that rely on bread for their meals, PTI reported.

While some consumers acknowledged the bakers' compulsion given the inflationary pressures, others raised concern about the collective impact of the increasing prices on their household budget.

"From edible oil to groceries, the prices of raw materials required for bread production have seen a steep increase over the past months. This has significantly impacted the operational costs for bakeries, leaving no choice but to revise the prices," Gadkari said.

The representatives of the bakery owners' association also claimed that they will monitor the market conditions and strive to ensure a balance between quality and affordability. PTI reported.

CREDAI urges govt to reconsider 18% GST imposition on FSI charges, warns of increase in housing prices

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) has strongly opposed the proposal to levy an 18 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Floor Space Index (FSI) and Additional FSI charges imposed by local authorities for real estate projects.

In a letter addressed to the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, CREDAI urged the central government to reconsider the move, warning that it could lead to a significant increase in housing prices and adversely affect both supply and demand in the real estate sector.

According to CREDAI, imposing GST on FSI charges - whether retrospectively or prospectively - would escalate project costs by as much as 10 per cent, pushing up housing prices across various regions of India.

The industry body claims that the additional burden would make affordable housing projects economically unviable, exacerbating the housing affordability crisis and potentially affecting the purchasing power of middle-class homebuyers, who make up 70 per cent of the total market.

The proposed tax on FSI charges, which are fees paid to local authorities for the additional space developers are allowed to build, could also create substantial financial pressures on developers.

(With PTI inputs)