Anuj Poddar, ED of Bajaj Electricals on Tuesday said that the demand continues to remain robust. However, he believes the pressure on the cost side will remain for some more time.

“Demand continued to be robust since the last couple of quarters and I think Q3 has been no exception. Q3 had two festive months which were October and November, and we were expecting a sharp dip after Diwali, but the industry continued to hold out well enough post-Diwali right through till December. But the supply side and the cost pressures have reared themselves again. Therefore that has been the new challenge,” he said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

Poddar added that the commodity price rise will have to be passed on and Bajaj Electricals has taken a price hike in the last few months.

“The cost has gone up to a level that I don’t think any of us can absorb it fully into our P&Ls. Only play that each of us has based on our respective situations is when to pass it on and what quantity to pass it on. We as a company have raised our prices since January 1 and that range is between 6 percent and 9 percent across all our product categories,” he said.

“In terms of margins, there has been pressure in Q3 on the margins because of cost. I think the pressure will continue in Q4 on the cost side. We just need to wait and see what the tradeoff is in terms of the price increase that we have taken versus the demand elasticity and what it does on the sales,” he added.

Watch the video for more.

(Edited by : Anshul)