Bottled drinking water to cost Rs 13 a litre in Kerala
The order, issued by the civil supplies department onTuesday, states that the price should not exceed Rs 13 for onelitre and all bottles should have the new price printed.
A litre of drinking water is now priced at Rs 20.
The Left government had earlier decided to bringpackaged water under the ambit of the Essential CommoditiesAct.
The government decided to regulate the price ofbottled water following widespread complaints from the publicabout its exorbitant price.
Though the government had mulled cutting short itsprice to Rs 11-12 two years ago, it could not be implementeddue to the protest from large-scale bottled watermanufacturers and traders.
The price cut was possible as bottled water has beenmade an essential commodity.
The Kerala Bottled Water Manufacturers Association hassaid they were willing to bring down the MRP to Rs 12 twoyears ago itself, but a group of members were against it.
There are 200 odd packaged drinking watermanufacturers in the state and some are allegedly functioningwithout license against whom the government would have to takeaction. UDBN BN