Reiterating claims of cartelization by domestic steel and cement producers, India’s Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, said that the government is moving to set up regulatory authorities for steel and cement sectors, as he stated at a meeting with the Builders Association of India (BAI) on Monday, January 11.
“Most steel companies have their own captive iron ore mines. Labor and power costs have not gone up. So why should there be a rise in steel prices? I just do not understand,” he said.
The minister said that setting up regulatory bodies for the steel and cement industries was a “good idea” and that this would have to finally be decided by the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), adding that the issue was being taken very seriously within the government.
He said that the government is aiming to make India a $5 trillion economy, but this will be very difficult with the steel and cement industries forming cartels to fix prices at higher levels.