The price of cement across all brands have gone up by Rs 30 per bag in Assam. This has happened in just 15 days. The construction and real estate sectors which were already reeling under extreme stress due to COVID lockdown has accused the industry lobby for engineering the sudden price hike and is also not happy about the fact that the Assam government is acting like a mute spectator.
The stark silence being maintained by the Assam government is also raising many questions because on one hand, the Central government is announcing steps to boost the economy, consumption and spending and on the other hand if prices of commodities continue to soar it would definitely defeat all that the Centre is trying to accomplish.
A section of the construction sector is alleging that Kailash Chandra Lohia, Chairman, and Managing Director (CMD) of Topcem Cement is behind this sudden, significant rise in cement prices. Allegations are being levelled against him that due to his political connections he played a role in increasing the prices to benefit a certain section of industry and certain political parties ahead of Assam elections next year.
Interesting to note that cement from companies like Lafarge and ACC is produced in South India, and is transported to Assam by train. The price is only Rs 350 per bag. The local brands of cement being produced in Guwahati and who do not even have to pay GST are prices at Rs 420 a bag.
Brands such as Star Cement, Dalmia, Birla Gold, Topcem, Surya Gold, Max, Black Tiger, Amrit and others have all jacked up their prices.
The price of one bag of Star, Dalmiya, and TomCem cement was Rs 390 on November 1, on November 15, the price had gone up to Rs 420.
Similarly, a bag of Surya Gold,Max, Black Tiger, and Amrit cement were prices at Rs 370. It went up to Rs 390 per bag by November 15.
The price of rods also has been hiked up to Rs 5000 per ton in the past 15 days.
