The announcement by the Group of Ministers to allow manufacturers sell cement at ₹ 310 a bag is not in public interest and fixing that price even as the government is getting at ₹ 240 is not justified, Visakhapatnam North MLA P. Vishnu Kumar Raju has said.
The prices were announced after a second round of meeting between the GoM and the representatives of cement manufacturers. The MLA said cement companies used to issue an inflated invoice of ₹ 305 a bag to the dealers asking them to sell to public at ₹ 245 and issue a credit note to the dealers on the difference in price. The ₹ 305 or in some cases ₹310 invoice price itself was fictitious, he said.
The dealers declared a despatch holiday from April 1 to 10 and later increased the invoice price to ₹ 370 asking the dealers to sell between ₹330 and ₹ 335. The MLA said at this stage he took it to the notice of the Chief Minister during his visit to the city. Subsequently, the GoM was formed to look into the issue.
The invoice price was shown to the GoM on the basis of which the price of ₹ 310 was decided, Mr. Raju said.
