Biscuit-Maker Parle may cut down upto 10,000 jobs as market slows down
BENGALURU: Parle Products Pvt Ltd, the country's largest biscuit maker, might lay off up to 10,000 workers as slowing economic growth and falling demand in the rural heartland could cause production cuts, a company executive said on Wednesday.
A downturn in Asia's third-largest economy is denting sales of everything from cars to clothing, forcing companies to curtail production and raising hopes that the government will unveil an economic stimulus to revive growth.
A sharp drop in Parle's biscuit sales means the company may have to slash production, which may result in layoffs of 8,000-10,000 people, Mayank Shah, category head at Parle, said in a telephone interview from Mumbai.
"The situation is so bad, that if the government doesn't intervene immediately... we may be forced to eliminate these positions," he said.
Parle, founded in 1929, employs about 1,00,000 people, including direct and contract workers across 10 company-owned facilities and 125 contract manufacturing plants.
Mr Shah said demand for popular Parle biscuit brands such as Parle-G had been worsening since the government rolled out a nationwide goods and services tax (GST) in 2017, which imposed a higher levy on biscuits costing as low as Rs. 5 a pack.
The higher taxes have forced Parle to offer fewer biscuits in each pack, hitting demand from lower-income consumers in rural India, which contributes more than half of Parle's revenue.
"Consumers here are extremely price-sensitive. They're extremely conscious of how many biscuits they are getting for a particular price," Mr Shah said.
Parle, which has an annual revenue of above $1.4 billion, held talks over the past year with the government's GST Council as well as former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, asking them to review tax rates, Mr Shah added.
Once known as Parle Gluco, the Mumbai-headquartered company's flagship biscuit brand was renamed as Parle-G, and became a household name in the country through the 1980s and 1990s. In 2003, Parle-G was considered the world's largest selling biscuit brand.
The slowdown in India's economic growth, which has already led to thousands of job losses in its crucial automotive industry, was accelerating the drop in demand, Mr Shah said.
Market research firm Nielsen said last month that the country's consumer goods industry was losing steam as spending in the rural heartland cools and small manufacturers lose competitive advantages in a slowing economy.
Parle is not the only food product company to have flagged slowing demand.
courtesy: ndtv.com
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Second PUC results: Life convict clears exam with distinction, DGP lauds effort
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Bengaluru: A life convict lodged in Ballari Central Prison has successfully cleared the second PUC examination.
Ashok Kumar S, who appeared for the examination under prison escort, secured 481 marks out of 600, registering 80.1 percent.
Director General of Police (Prisons and Correctional Services), Alok Kumar (IPS), shared the development on his official ‘X’ handle, commending the inmate’s achievement.
In his post, he stated that it was heartening to see a life convict score over 80 percent in the examination, adding that the inmate had appeared from Ballari Central Prison under escort.
It’s heartening to see that one of our life convict prisoners Ashok has obtained 80.1% marks in PUC exam. He appeared under Prison escort from Ballari Central Prison for his exams.
— alok kumar (@alokkumar6994) April 9, 2026
Glad to see that Walls of the prison has not subdued his hopes for a better future. pic.twitter.com/Nzlcy076SR
He further noted that the achievement reflected that the “walls of the prison have not subdued his hopes for a better future.”
Alok Kumar in his post also shared the result sheet of Ashok.
The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) declared the second PUC results for 2026 on April 9.
A total of 6,32,200 students appeared for the examination across all streams, of whom 5,46,698 passed, recording an overall pass percentage of 86.48 per cent.
