Kerala govt imposes Rs 13 cap on bottled water

The Kerala Government has decided to impose a cap of Rs.13 for one litre packaged drinking water in the state.

A notification making packaged drinking water an essential commodity would be issued soon. It was also decided that packaged drinking water with BIS standard would only be allowed to be sold in the state, Kerala Food Minister P Thilothaman said.

At present most packaged drinking water is being sold for Rs. 20 in Kerala.

The decision to impose the price cap was taken despite strong resistance from the bottled water manufacturers in the state. Though the government earlier ordered price regulations on drinking water, most manufacturers were unwilling to adhere to it citing manufacturing cost.

The Kerala Government fixed the price at Rs. 13 after conducting an audit of the production cost. The manufacturers were demanding that the price should be fixed at Rs. 15 at least.

Though a government agency, Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation, is now bringing out bottled water at Rs. 15 per litre as it is not having much profit owing to less margin to the traders.

The Kerala Water Authority is also planning to launch bottled drinking water.