Cement firms to meet FM tomorrow

Representatives of the cement industry will meet Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday to discuss the issue of pricing. This will be the fourth meeting with the government post-Budget.

"We have no clue of the agenda of the meeting, but it is likely to revolve around the issue of pricing," said a representative of the Cement Manufacturers' Association.

The Budget imposed an excise duty of Rs 600 per tonne, as against the earlier duty of Rs 400 per tonne, on cement selling at prices above Rs 190 per 50-kg bag. For those selling cement at or below Rs 190, it imposed a concessional duty of Rs 350 per tonne.

As most of the cement was being sold above Rs 190, firms hiked prices to pass the excise burden. Cement prices went up by Rs 10-12 per 50-kg bag from March 1.

Post-Budget, the industry has already had three meetings with the government on prices "" first, with Industry Secretary Ajay Dua, in which cement manufacturers refused to roll back prices; second, with Finance Minister P Chidambaram, when they assured to look into the possibility of price reduction; and the third, with Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, in which they agreed to freeze prices for one year even if input costs rose.