Indian steel users like road construction companies need to find innovative alternatives and “teach a lesson to steel companies and sophisticated cartels for increasing prices”, minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari said on Monday, February 22.
The minister said that it is time for the country to teach a lesson to domestic steel producers for taking advantage of the people and the government, and exploiting users, by artificially increasing steel prices, which is not in the interest of the nation.
Dwelling on road construction, the minister said that construction technologists should increase the use of synthetic fibres and lower steel consumption, and that the government will approve the use of such material in construction of roads and bridges on condition that rate contract price increases will be allowed only on approval by the government and not at the sole decision of the construction company.
Minister Gadkari has previously repeatedly alleged cartelization by steel producers and repeated price increases, following which the Competition Commission of India (CCI) launched investigations into possible price fixing by domestic steel companies.