Cut cement prices, Chidambaram tells producers

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Save & Share Article

What’s this?

Digg	My Yahoo	Fark
del.icio.us	Newsvine	Reddit

Rate This Article

New Delhi, May 9: Government increased pressure on the cement manufacturers on Friday with Finance Minister P Chidambaram saying the government is in talk with the industry to cut prices of the crucial construction material.

“We are in the process of persuading the cement industry to roll back prices,” Chidambaram said in New Delhi.

Leading producer ACC has already announced that it would “hold the cement prices over the coming 2-3 months”. The company said it would be engaged “in an open dialogue with the government to explore viable solutions to combat inflationary trends that have disproportionately increased its input costs.

Kolkata-based Shree Cement said it has already reduced the prices in Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh by Rs 2-5 and in Gujarat by Rs 7 per bag of 50 kg in May.

J K Lakshmi Cement, big player in north India, said it is also inclined to hold the price line.

A top official of Barak Valley Cement, which is a dominant supplier in Assam, Tripura and Mizoram, said, “If others reduce prices, we will also reduce it to stay in the market”.

However, the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA), apex industry body, remained non-committal. “CMA has nothing to do with prices. Prices are determined by the market,” CMA President, H M Bangur said.