Cement dearer in Himachal due to higher freight: Adani group

Solan, December 20

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Higher transportation cost was responsible for exorbitant cement price in Himachal Pradesh vis-à-vis neighbouring states, the Adani group said today.

In a statement released here, the company said people of the region deserve lower cement price, but it was not possible without the cooperation of the transport unions. It, however, did not provide figures of how much transportation cost was added to the cement price in the state. Higher cement price in the state has been a contentious issue for years.

The group said, “Our companies should be free to hire trucks wherever they are needed in India to facilitate interstate and interregional transportation, thus ensuring free market approach to best serve our consumers. What is even more unfortunate that local transport unions don’t allow others to operate at competitive rates. This goes against the free market spirit. There should be open tendering process for freight rates as per vehicle size and carrying capacity, etc.”

The transporters have squarely blamed the company management of halting the manufacturing operations since December 15, while offering to restart work at the existing freight rate of Rs 10.58 per tonne per km (PTPK) as against the latter’s decision to slash it to Rs 6 PTPK.

The demand to ensure free market was likely to aggravate the crisis as transporters, a majority of whom had surrendered land for setting up factories, are dependent solely on the transportation work.

Though two companies Ambuja Cements Limited at Darlaghat and ACC at Gagal were among the largest employment providers, direct and indirect, in the state, they had become unviable due to various inefficiencies in transportation, said the management.

“As a single entity now, we want to supply cement to the markets at prices that are competitive. And, our intent is that cement from either company flows freely to the best-optimised network in the state,” the company added.

It also laid to rest the transporters’ complaint of cement from the two companies being switched between the two brands — ACC and ACL. “Transporters shouldn’t be concerned about the management’s right to switch our brand-specific materials. Since fuel is a national resource, this will help HP become a greener state by saving it and also draw on synergies to serve customers efficiently,” the company added.

The transporters, however, said the cement brands varied in quality and price, hence switching between them was tantamount to befooling the customers.