Govt. passes the buck to Centre

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JAN. 23. Faced with increasing criticism over the spiralling price of cement, the Tamil Nadu Government today put the ball in the Centre's court to take steps to reverse the trend, even while claiming that it was an all-India phenomenon.

``We expect the Centre to take appropriate steps soon as the Maharashtra Government had also written to it pressing for action to reduce the cement price,'' the Health Minister, Mr. Arcot Veeraswamy, told the Legislative Assembly here.

Responding to a special mention on the issue, raised by the Opposition Leader, Mr. S. Balakrishnan (TMC), the Minister, on the Chief Minister's behalf, said while the State Government was seized of the matter, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) had asked five major cement producers in the country to explain the reasons for the price spurt. Mr. Karunanidhi, down with fever, could not be present in the House for the second day today.

The cement price hike had acquired a distinct political overtone with the TMC for several months now accusing the Government of being soft to a major cement producer in Tamil Nadu, who had allegedly stringed a cartel and `manipulated' cement prices. The AIADMK and other parties, besides the builders associations had flayed the Government's ``apathy'' in the matter and organised several protest demonstrations.

While the State Government had maintained that cement was no longer a controlled commodity but governed by the market forces, the TMC, to ``prove'' its point that cheaper cement could be made available to consumers from neighbouring States, even made a symbolic sale of cement at its party premises here last year at a ``lower'' price. Mr. Karunanidhi had then non-chalantly responded that the TMC was free to sell cement.

The price hike again cropped up today, when Mr. Balakrishnan drew the House's attention to a procession led by two former AIADMK Ministers, Mr. S.D. Somasundaram and Mr. Panruti S.Ramachandran, in the city to highlight the issue. As cement prices had sharply surged to over Rs.200 per bag in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Balakrishnan told the Assembly during zero hour that the rally's objective was to press for some relief, as high cement prices stalled building activities and threw construction workers out of jobs. Everyone was perplexed as to why the price high in Tamil Nadu, he said.

Disputing the TMC's contention that the price hike was confined to the State, Mr. Veeraswamy said, the five major cement producers - Grasim Cement, India Cements, L & T, Gujarat Ambuja and ACC - were now being subjected to an MRTPC probe on the basic reasons for the hike in the cement price.

Meanwhile, as the problem had been brought to the notice of the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, the Centre, in consultation with the Union Industries and Commerce Minister, Mr. Murasoli Maran, had initiated a consultative exercise with the manufacturers in a bid to rein in the cement price, he said.

Mr. Veeraswamy also furnished a detailed comparative list of price of cement in other States to show that prices ranged from Rs.190 to Rs.197 per bag for various brands. Even in Mumbai it had exceeded Rs.190 per bag, he added.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Massive housing scheme on the anvil: CM
Next     : Latheef wants AIADMK to lead front