Commercial mineral water became expensive last week, intensifying woes of city consumers who rely largely on branded drink to quench their thirst outdoors amid lack of safe supply water.
Price of one-litre pet-bottle water has increased to Tk 25 from Tk 20, two litres to Tk 35 from Tk 30, according to groceries and confectioneries.
On the other hand, five-litre jar water has jumped to Tk 80 from Tk 70.
Traders say water price has increased by 25 per cent.
Leading beverage companies say a surge in pet resin (key raw materials of pet bottles) import costs has forced them to review the price of bottled water.
However, half-litre bottled water is not reviewed yet.
Price of one-litre mineral water 'Mum', a product of Partex Beverage, has been increased to Tk 25 a litre.
'Mum' is the market leader with its 38-40 per cent of share in the bottled water market, according to Partex officials.
Md Nahid Yousuf, asst general manager of Partex Group, says pet resin price rose to $1,600-1,700 a tonne in the international market.
It was hardly $1,100 even six months back.
A notable surge in resin price has mainly forced the companies to review prices, the official observes.
Muzibur Rahman, senior general manager of Meghna Group of Industries that markets 'Fresh'-branded water, a hike in transport costs by 26-30 per cent also contributed to this upward movement in water prices.
Production cost is also going to increase further amid a hike in gas price hike recently, he points out.
Mr Rahman says his company markets an estimated 1.5-million cases of water in summer which declined to 0.8-0.9 million cases in winter.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) vice-president SM Nazer Hossain says the government's failure to ensure safe water is the key factor behind beverage companies' foray into market commercially.
A large population is highly dependent on bottled water when they go outside as there is no alternative to safe drink, he adds.
Beverage companies have already made massive profits by marketing groundwater, he said.
Raising price by such a high margin should be monitored by the government agency concerned.
Mr hossain says the price should be rational to give consumers some sort of relief. According to leading beverage houses, private companies now supply more than 63-million litres of bottled water across the country per month.
