The Hindu : Business : Cement prices will remain at reasonable level

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 28, 2007
ePaper

Business

Business

Cement prices will remain at reasonable level

Special Correspondent

100 m tonnes capacity to be added by 2011-12
Govt. urged to address inadequate coal supplies

NEW DELHI: The Central Government on Tuesday said cement prices will remain at a reasonable level owing to capacity addition by the industry coupled with a liberal import policy.

“Cement prices have been stable for some time. With a liberalised import regime we hope that the situation will be reasonable,” Ajay Shankar, Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, told reporters on the sidelines of the tenth international seminar of National Council for Cement and Building Materials here. He referred to the fact that the cement industry was undergoing rapid expansion with new plants coming on stream and it was expected to add 100 million tonnes capacity by 2011-12.

The Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Ashwani Kumar, has recently said that “The prices of cement have stabilised to a large extent, showing an increase of only 2.67 per cent between March and October 2007.”

He stressed the need for the industry to concentrate on modernisation and upgradation of technology.

The Council’s Director General, M. Vasudeva, wanted the Government to address issues such as inadequate coal supplies, high taxes, and lack of modernised ports.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business