INDIA: Builders up in arms against cement makers

 Builders are up in arms against cement manufacturers for alleged cartelisation and jacking up prices unrealistically thereby severely impacting the construction industry.

Members of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI) told newspersons here today though CREDAI had gone to the Competition Commission of India against the steep hike in prices of the basic construction raw material, the process was slow and impacted severely the common man who had to shell out additional amount.

Both cement and steel constituted nearly 32 per cent of the construction cost.

They said most of the cement manufacturers in the country increased production capacity by over 30 per cent every year by ploughing back internal resources rather than outside borrowings.

This gave an indication of how cash rich these companies were, they said.

They said since over 30 per cent of the cement makers were multinationals, attempts were also being made to take them to courts in the European Union to ensure cement prices were not jacked up artificially in the guise of rise in input costs.