Tumbling rupee to push up prices of electronic goods

Kolkata: Prices of television, refrigerator and washing machine are set to go up due to steep depreciation of the rupee against the dollar, two senior industry executives said.

Smartphone makers such as Xiaomi, Vivo and OnePlus plan to absorb the exchange rate impact as of now, with the industry fearing a slide in sales since prices are all set to go up due to increase in goods and services tax on smartphones to 18% from 12%. But they will factor the exchange rate in the pricing of future launches, the executives said.

A Xiaomi India spokesperson said the rupee depreciating against the dollar is impacting the company. “We are continuously tracking the exchange rate trend and will take a call based on where it stabilises,” the person said.