Finance Minister P Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha today that the Government is looking at legal and administrative measures to deal with cement manufacturers and steel producers to contain inflation.
New Delhi, Apr 22 : Finance Minister P Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha today that the Government is looking at legal and administrative measures to deal with cement manufacturers and steel producers to contain inflation.
He said the steel producers and the cement manufacturers are to some extent behaving like a cartel.
"The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission MRTPC is conducting an inquiry into the allegations of cartelisation and the government would look at legal and administrative provisions to deal with the situation," he added.
"Containment of inflation remains high on the agenda of the government. We have taken a set of fiscal measures and are contemplating some more measures," he said.
He added, "Anti-inflationary policies of the government include strict fiscal discipline, rationalization of duties of essential items, effective supply-demand management of essential commodities through liberal tariff, trade policies and procurement through public sector agencies."
The monetary policy of Reserve Bank of India has attempted to contain inflationary expectations arising out of uncertainties in domestic and international environment, he added.
RBI in the third quarter review of the annual policy statement of 2007-08 has mentioned that increase in international prices of oil, food grains and other commodities are due to increase in demand.
The weekly inflation rate of wholesale price index (WPI) stood at 6.7 percent as on March 15, 2008 and reached 7.4 per cent on March 29. However, it has come down to 7.1 percent as on April 5.
ANI