Drop prices or face takeover, TN tells cement units

With prices of cement in Tamil Nadu soaring, the State Government has said that it might take over private cement factories in the State.

In a press release issued after a high-level meeting presided over by the Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, the Government said that if the private sector cement units did not drop cement prices, the Government would have no option but to take over the units in the interests of the public.

Plan to import

The meeting, which reviewed the hike in the price of cement, also decided to import one lakh tonnes of cement by Tamil Nadu Cements Corporation through MMTC to tide over the shortage.

The imported cement would be distributed to the public through the State civil supplies corporation at cost price, without any profit, the release said.

It was also decided that the cement corporation would float global tenders for direct import of cement at the earliest.

Sources in the industry, who did not want to be named, laughed away the takeover threat as “empty”, noting that the State had no powers to do so.

Demand trend

According to a report of Edelweiss Research, the year-on-year demand of cement works out to 18 per cent for Tamil Nadu. Recently, prices in Andhra Pradesh were increased by Rs 3 to Rs 5. Sources in the industry, who did not want to be named, noted that the industry had no option but to raise rates because of increase in prices of coal by Coal India Ltd as well as that of imported coals.