‘Cement may come under essential commodities Act’

There is hope for those hoping to build a home at an affordable rate, as the government is mulling to put a check on exploitative prices of cement by bringing the basic construction raw material under the Essential Commodities Act (ECA).

The decision in this regard would be taken soon after consultation with different stakeholders over the issue. In an exclusive interview with Millennium Post, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari said that manufacturing companies were continuously increasing prices at will, which was unethical and needed be ‘controlled’.

“Even though the government has not enhanced either royalty fees or labour charge rates, the cement manufacturing companies are still increasing the prices of the essential commodity. It is not justified,” Gadkari said.

“It has come to my notice that cement companies are involved in cartelisation of the commodity. They reduce production and increase the prices. I’ve decided to take up the issue with Competitive Commission of India (CCI) and would recommend stringent action against all errant cement manufactures,” the Union Minister said.

Elaborating further, Gadkari said, “If the cartelisation continues and prices of cement keep on rising, the government would bring cement under the Essential Commodities Act. We cannot allow cement manufacturers to make exploitative profits instead of reasonable margins.”

“In the recent past, the prices of cement have increased by over 1.5 times, which is totally ‘unjustified’. We are in favour of a fixed formula by which cement prices would be revised. It should not be increased arbitrarily,” the minister stressed.

In reply to a question on why the price of cement was rising even though consumption of the building material had increased manifold in road construction works, Gadkari said, “It’s a fact that we procure about 40 per cent cement of the country’s total consumption and instead of a drop in the price, it has increased.”

Notably, about 5 lakh tonne cement, 1 lakh tonne iron, etc. have been used in the construction of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, and consumption of cement is expected to increase manifold as several new highway projects are in the pipeline.