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BAI seeks CCI to review penalty on cement firms

Jul, 09 2012

(India)  --  Builders' Association of India (BAI) has sought the CCI to review the heavy penalty that it has imposed on the cement companies.

It has also asked the CCI to conduct an enquiry on the loss incurred by contractors due to such 'profiteering' by cement manufacturers.

BAI also seeks CCI to consider reimbursing the loss to contractors.

BAI is an apex all India body of engineering construction contractors, founded in 1941. It has more than 13,000 business entities as members and has more than 130 centres throughout the country.

CCI imposed penalty of Rs 6300 crore on 11 all major cement manufacturers namely, Associated Cement Company (ACC) Ambuja  Cement, Grasim Cement, UltraTech Cement, Jaypee Cement, India Cement, J K Cements, Century Cement, Madras Cements, Binani Cement, and Lafarge India.

BAI believes that the quantum of penalty imposed by CCI may not be enough to deter cement manufacturers from indulging in malpractices. Therefore, it wants CCI to impose a fixed percentage of the penalty as a deposit with the CCI in case the cement manufacturers approaches the appellate authority.

"We are happy that CCI has taken action to penalize the cement companies as it would give a boost to construction industry leading to the revival of our economy, which currently is going through a difficult phase. It should be noted that construction industry is a major driver of Indian economy, and any unfair practices as indulged in by the cement companies have adverse impact not only on this industry but the overall economy," said Anand Gupta, secretary, BAI.

B Seenaiah , BAI's president said, "It is the common man who would be benefited by the commission's order as this would rein in the cement companies to a great extent in manipulating their prices."

By: Rashmi Kalia (ARI-C NEWS)

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