State must control cement price: Pattali Makkal Katchi
Price goes up from Rs 180 to Rs 355 since 2011
Chennai: Pattali Makkal Katchi founder-leader, Dr S. Ramadoss, has urged the TN government to take steps to control the cement price. In a statement, he said the hike in the price of cement over the last few weeks has been puzzling.
Dr Ramadoss said, “The price of cement has gone up from Rs 180 per bag in 2011 to Rs 355-365 per bag in June 2014. Normally, the demand for cement would go up when there is a lot of construction activities. Now, there has been no demand for cement due to slowdown of the economy,” he said.
“It is baffling to know that cement price has been rising though there was no demand for cement. The TN Cement Corporation Limited (TANCEM), a Government of Tamil Nadu undertaking, has been selling cement for a price of Rs 260 per bag and earning profit. While it so, the private cement manufacturers should not be allowed to sell it for Rs 360 per bag,” he said.
He noted that after warning from the newly-formed Telangana government, the cement companies in Telangana reduced the cement price to Rs 290 from Rs 315-325 per bag. He said Tancem should increase its production and supply of cement to the open market, apart from meeting the government’s various requirements.