Budget 2012: Everything in your living room just got costlier

Get ready to pay more for a whole host of consumer durables - from air conditioners and washing machines to microwave ovens to cameras.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed a hike in excise duty to 12 percent from 10 percent in the Union Budget, which will prompt an increase in product prices from manufacturers, already hit by high input costs.

For consumer goods companies, it will be the second year of challenging growth after last year’s dismal single-digit sales growth. The mild income-tax exemption relief is unlikely to help consumer sentiment; any gains from lower tax liability will be offset by the higher prices of most consumer goods.

Prices of most consumer goods are expected to rise between 4-6 percent, according to brokerages.

Here’s a list of some key price changes.

Air conditioners: The excise duty hike will push prices higher by about Rs 1,000, according to experts.

Washing machines: Prices are expected to go up by at least Rs 600 per unit. A 6-kg, fully-automatic front-loading washing machine will be more expensive by Rs 1,200 or so.

Refrigerators: Prices will go up by Rs 800 or so.A refrigerator costing Rs 10,000 could cost about Rs 400 more.

**LCD and LED television sets:**Expect to see a very marginal price cut here, if any. While LCD and LED television sets have been made exempt from customs duty, the hike in excise duty is likely to offset any cost cuts.

Cameras: A 10 percent import duty was imposed on digital still cameras, which should raise price by Rs 1,000-1,00,000. Until now, digital cameras had been exempt from import duties. Most cameras sold in India are imported.

Mobile phones: There has been a reduction in duties on some phone components, so that should bring down the cost of mobile phones marginally.

Computers and laptops: These are likely to get more expensive because of the excise duty hike. A additional countervailing duty of 2 percent on imported computers is likely to lift the price of imported computers even higher. Computer peripherals are also likely to face a price hike.

Bicycles: If you have a taste for imported bicycles, get ready to pay more because customs duty has been hiked to 30 percent from 10 percent, while customs duty on bicycle parts has increased to 20 percent from 10 percent. That will prompt a 3-4 percent hike in prices. The price of local bicycles will go up by more than Rs 100 per unit, according to a PTI report .

Luxury goods: The excise duty will make everything from premium segment cars to cosmetics more expensive. An increase in basic customs duty from 60 percent to 75 percent on completely built units (CBUs) of large cars, multi-utility vehicles (MUVs) and sports utilityvehicles (SUVs) permitted for imports will make premium cars costlier by about Rs 1 lakh.

Gold: A hike in the customs duty to 4 percent from 2 percent on standard gold, platinum and the increase in on gold jewellery will make gold and platinum jewellery more expensive.Consumers will have to shell out at least Rs 250 on unbranded gold jewellery and about Rs 500 more on gold bars of 10 grams, according to media reports.

However, branded silver jewellery has been exempted from excise duty, so maybe it’s time to splurge on silver.

Watch the video here .

See more Budget 2012 videos and expert views on Firstpost: Ajay Shah , Rupa Rege Nitsure , Indranil Pan , Ashima Goyal , Jim Walker , DK Joshi , Ajit Ranade , Art Woo .

See more Budget 2012 issue based videos and Firstpost’s analyses: Subsidies , Fiscal Deficit , Inflation , Taxation , Dissecting the Budget , What Budget 2012 means for markets .