Gujarat asks cement firms to cut price

MUMBAI: To keep the feel-good factor going, Gujarat government has asked cement manufacturers in the state to reduce price of the commodity by Rs 10 a bag.
In various other parts of the country also, cement manufacturers were asked to reduce price of cement, industry sources said. "Price of cement has come down by Rs 10 a bag in Pune on Monday" sources added.
Cement price has been on the rise since September-October and in certain parts of the country like Gujarat, price of a bag of cement has gone up by nearly Rs 30.Rising prices of commodities like steel and cement have hit user industries hard.
Demand for cement is also not picking up. Cement manufacturers have inked a manufacturers agreement in November last year to reduce production in a bid to create demand, sources said.
Similarly, early last week a central government minister had meet a delegation of steel manufacturers and requested them to reduce price of steel, which has touched an all time high of $ 560 a tonne. Manufacturers subsequently reduced price of steel by Rs 2000 a tonne.
According to industry sources, while urging steel companies to reduce price, manufacturers were reminded that not too long ago, government and lending agencies had supported restructuring packages of many steel companies.