Commercial mineral water became pricier last week, intensifying woes of city consumers who rely largely on branded water bottles amid lack of safe drinking water.
Price of one-litre pet-bottle of water has increased to Tk25 from Tk20, and two litre to Tk35 from Tk30, according to groceries and confectioneries.
On the other hand, a five-litre bottle of water has jumped to Tk80 from Tk70.
Traders say water prices have increased by 25%.
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 was out of the price hike, as of Saturday.
Price of one-litre Mum, a product of Partex Beverage, has been increased to Tk25 a litre.
Mum is also the market leader with its 38-40% of share in the bottled water market, according to Partex officials.
Muzibur Rahman, senior general manager of Meghna Group of Industries, that markets Fresh-branded water, said a hike in transport costs by 26-30% also contributed to the price increase of bottled water.
Production cost is also going to increase further amid a hike in gas price hike recently, he points out.
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 drinking water is the key factor behind beverage companies' foray into the market commercially.
A large population is highly dependent on bottled water when they go outside as there is no alternative to safe drinking water, he added.
Beverage companies have already made massive profits by marketing groundwater, he said.
Raising prices by such a high margin should be monitored by the government agency concerned.
Hossain said that the price should be rational to give consumers some sort of relief.
According to leading beverage companies, private companies now supply more than 63-million litres of bottled water across the country every month.
