The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is believed to have slapped penalty of about Rs.3,000 crore on 11 big cement manufacturers, found guilty of being involved in price cartel, a high-level source said on Tuesday.
“The CCI has found 11 cement firms guilty of cartelisation. A penalty of eight per cent of their three-year’s average turnover will be imposed on them,” he said. The cumulative turnover of these companies is around Rs.37,500 crore.
Most top cement firms have been indicted by the CCI. Cement companies, however, declined to comment, saying that they have not seen the order.
The CCI was probing the cartelisation charges based on complaints from realtors’ body, Builders Association of India (BAI), which alleged that the retail prices fixed by cement manufacturers were almost similar.
The highest penalty prescribed in the Competition Act, 2002, is 10 per cent of three-year’s average turnover.
