Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.

Cement industry welcomes Compat verdict quashing penalty

Image
Press Trust of India Mumbai
Last Updated : Dec 11 2015 | 7:23 PM IST
Cement industry today welcomed the verdict of Competition Appellate Tribunal (Compat) setting aside Rs 6,316.59-crore penalty imposed on 11 cement firms by fair trade regulator CCI on cartelisation charges.
"We welcome the move to set aside penalty imposed on us by CCI on cartelisation charges. This is a good move and natural justice as we have nothing to do with cartelisation," UltraTech Cement Managing Director O P Puranmalka told PTI here.
UltraTech was one of the companies which was asked to pay penalty.
In a major verdict, Compat quashed Rs 6,316.59 crore penalty slapped on 11 cement companies by the CCI (Competition Commission of India) on cartelisation charges and asked the watchdog to hear the matter afresh.
The Tribunal also allowed the cement manufacturers to withdraw the 10 per cent penalty amount already deposited with the CCI, which has been asked to pass a fresh order within three months.
"We will receive the 10 per cent deposit along with the interest. For UltraTech Cement, this works out to be around Rs 112 crore," Puranmalka said.

Also Read

The judgement follows appeals filed by the cement firms and their industry body Cement Manufacturers Association against the two CCI orders passed in June-July 2012.
The companies which faced the CCI action are: ACC, Ambuja Cements, Binani Cements, Century Textiles Ltd, India Cements, JK Cements, Lafarge India, Madras Cements, UltraTech, JP Associates and Shree Cements.
Declining to comment on the issue of pricing of the individual companies, Cement Manufacturers' Association (CMA) Secretary General N A Viswanathan said that the industry body has always said that there was no cartelisation.
"CMA is a forum which raises common issues of the cement companies and it does not take pricing, which is an individual issue of every company," he added.
"The association was not given an opportunity to be heard properly. It is a big correction of some aberration of the issue that had come in the appreciation of the procedure," he further said.

More From This Section

First Published: Dec 11 2015 | 7:23 PM IST

Next Story