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India's bottled water prices soar 11% amid US-Israel-Iran war, erasing tax cuts
Bisleri, which commands one-third of India's bottled water market, has increased prices. A box of 12 bottles of 1-litre each is now Rs240, compared to Rs216 earlier
- PUBLISHED: Thu 19 Mar 2026, 6:20 PM
[Editor's Note: Follow Khaleej Times live blog amid US-Israel-Iran war for the latest regional developments.]
The US-Israel-Iran war has made bottled water in India 11 per cent more expensive after prices of plastic bottles and caps surged, a change that has also erased the benefit of a lower water tax rate Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a few months ago.
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Clean water is a privilege in the country of 1.4 billion people where researchers say 70 per cent of the groundwater is contaminated. Bisleri, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance and Tata all compete for a share of the $5 billion market. The market is being squeezed as rising oil prices increase the cost of polymer, a key material for the industry's plastic bottles.
India's biggest player, Bisleri, which commands a third of the bottled water market, has increased prices by 11 per cent. A box of 12 bottles of 1-litre each will now cost Rs240 ($2.57), compared to Rs216 ($2.32) earlier.
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'Beyond anyone’s control'
"The price of packaged drinking water has risen to Rs20 per litre, due to a significant increase in packaging material costs, which have surged by over 70 per cent in the last fortnight," Angelo George, CEO of Bisleri, told Reuters in a text message.
"What is happening is beyond anyone’s control," he added.
Due to rising oil prices triggered by US-Israel-Iran war, the cost of material used in making plastic bottles has risen by 50 per cent to Rs170 per kilogram, while the price of the caps has more than doubled to Rs0.45 apiece. Even corrugated boxes, labels and adhesive tape are costing more, Reuters has previously reported. The price increase reverses the benefits from Modi's September tax reforms when his government reduced taxes on bottled water from 18 per cent to 5 per cent, prompting many companies to reduce prices.
India's Parle Agro has also increased the price of its Bailley bottled water brand by around 11 per cent, according to pricing sheets provided by a water industry source. The company declined to comment.
Its website still runs a message thanking Modi for reducing taxes, which led to lower prices of its products, including bottled water. Nayan Shah, CEO of Clear Premium Water, said he had increased the retail prices of his bottled water by 8 per cent to 11 per centdue to geopolitical developments.
"A price revision has become unavoidable," he said.
