India’s largest biscuit maker and a legacy brand Parle Products Pvt Ltd might fire up to 10,000 of its 1,00,000-strong workforce amid slowing economic growth and declining demand in rural areas, a company executive was quoted as saying to media sources on Wednesday.

Mayank Shah, category head at Parle, spoke to media sources about the sharp decline in biscuit sales which could lead to curtailing production and lay-offs of “8,000-10,000” people.

“The situation is so bad, that if the government doesn’t intervene immediately… we may be forced to eliminate these positions,” he said.

According to Shah, the demand for the classic brands such as Parle-G has been on a constant decline since goods and services tax (GST) was introduced in 2017, which has increased the levy on biscuits, which cost as low as Rs.5 a pack.

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The company has resorted to offering fewer biscuits in each pack, which in turn has adversely affected its demand among lower-income consumers. The lower-income revenue makes up for more than half of Parle’s total revenues. The company has an annual revenue of above $1.4bn.

The slump in Asia’s third-largest economy has affected sales across sectors ranging from cars to apparel, leaving companies no other choice but to pause production.

Among food product companies, Parle is not the only hit by the downturn with Britannia Industries Ltd also expressing concerns over the slowing demand.