Mumbai, May 26 -- India's fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector is expected to post slower volume growth in FY27 as war-induced inflation spike pushes up crude oil-linked input costs and weighs on consumer demand. This is likely to force companies to give up on their volume-led growth strategy for this year and focus instead on protecting margins through calibrated price hikes and shrinkflation.

Analysts at credit rating agency Crisil said in a report last week that the 74 FMCG players they track, representing about one-third of the industry, are expected to post 2-3% volume growth in FY27, down from 5-6% in FY26. Their revenue is, however, seen up 8-10% this fiscal year, mostly because companies are likely to raise prices 6-7% as the...