Fragrance and flavour industry likely to touch $ 5.2 bn in next 4 years: FAFAI

Kolkata, Mar 14 (KNN) The fragrance and flavour industry of India is expected to touch USD 5.2 billion in the next three to four years, Fragrances and Flavours Association of India (FAFAI) said.

The industry which is likely to grow around 12 per cent each year is driven by factors like rising disposable incomes and changing consumer preferences, FAFAI president, Risabh Kothari pointed out.

Presently, the fragrance and flavour industry is worth USD 3.7 billion.

The major user industries of this segment are food and beverages, personal care, homecare, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and these include major MNCs, domestic companies and small businesses.

One of the major reason for the growing industry is the rising willingness to spend more on premium products due to rising disposable incomes, Kothari added.

The association president pointed out that personal care industry is growing at a rapid pace and this presents a good opportunity for fragrance and flavour industry.

However, Kothari said the biggest threat which this industry is facing is that of cheap imports dumped by overseas players owing to inverted duty structure.

A major ingredient for the industry is natural essential oils which attract higher import duty compared to fragrances, the end product.

“We have sent several representations to the government to correct this anomaly by increasing duty on finished fragrance compounds which will protect the domestic industry", he said.

The present duty structure is detrimental to the domestic industry, Kothari claimed.  (KNN Bureau)