GoM to submit report to CM
Hyderabad, April 21, 2008At a press conference here on Monday, the Minister for Finance, K Rosaiah who heads the Group of Ministers (GoM) to go into the issue of cement prices said apart from imposing ban on the exports of cement from the State if the cement companies do not comply with its request to make the commodity available in the market at a price below Rs.200 per bag. He said that the State Government enjoyed limited powers as far as cement pricing was concerned, and therefore, it would consult the Centre before taking a decision on banning exports and introducing a regulatory authority.
The Finance Minister said that the Group of Ministers would submit its recommendations on controlling prices in the open market to the Chief Minister on Tuesday. He said that there is no justification for cement companies to sell cement at a price higher than Rs.200 a bag as the production cost for them worked out to Rs.84 to Rs.100 per a bag in the State as the raw material is abundantly available in the State.
Rosaiah regretted that while the production cost was low, the cement companies were selling the product at exorbitant prices and doing whatever they liked. After offering some concessional rate with respect to Indiramma Housing programme of the State Government. The GoM took the matter seriously, he added.
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