Economic blockade against the cement industry in the mineral-rich Chhattisgarh state started on Wednesday in protest against the sky-rocketing price of cement bags in the state.
As part of the campaign, hundreds of people led by Tilda legislator Devji Patel on Wednesday reached the Century Cement Plant located in Baikunth—about 50 km from here. They blockade the entry points of the plant and stopped the workers from entering the unit.
The protesters also blocked the transport the cement bags out of the factory. The Century Cement management later had a parley with a delegation led by Patel and assured to implement the demands raised by the protesters.
“It was a day-long economic blockade that went off successfully as the management finally accepted all the demands, the prominent among it include the high price of cement bags,” Patel told Business Standard. The company assured that it would cut down the price by Rs 50 a bag that had reached Rs 280, he added.
Patel said the other cement plants in the state had also been given notice and asked to curtail the price of cement bags in the state that had been providing them all the facilities like raw material, water and power. “If the companies fail, similar economic blockade will be done in front of the plants one by one,” he added.
Chhattisgarh has 7 cement plants with a total production capacity of 13.8 Million Tonne Per Annum (MTPA). Besides Century Cement, Lafarge India, Ambuja Cement, Grasim and UltraTech Cement have its major production facilities in the state.
The companies are planning expansion of the capacity while many other prominent groups are also investing in cement sector in Chhattisgarh. With the expansion plan and new projects, the cement manufacturers in Chhattisgarh plans to add over 100 MTPA capacity, which would account to 51 per cent of India’s current cement manufacturing capacity.
