Indian producers appeal fine, India

A total of 10 out of 11 Indian cement companies fined in June for cartel practices have approached the Competition Appellate Tribunal to contest the ruling.

Sources said the companies had approached the tribunal last week and the matter is due for hearing on 13 September.

In June, the Competition Commission of India had imposed a penalty of INR6,307 crore (US$1.1bn) on 11 cement companies for price fixing. The major companies on which penalty was imposed included ACC Ltd, Ambuja Cements Ltd, UltraTech Cement Ltd and Jaiprakash Associates Ltd.

All the 11 firms were fined 50 per cent of their average profit for fiscal years 2010 and 2011, the period for which they were investigated. The anti-trust watchdog, in its unanimous decision by all six members and Chairman Ashok Chawla, also imposed a token amount as fine on lobby group Cement Manufacturers’ Association (CMA). The commission investigated 39 cement companies on a complaint filed by the Builders Association of India, a lobby group of engineering and construction contractors.

The CCI asked the companies to deposit the penalty amount in three months’ time. It directed the the CMA to stop collecting information about prices, dispatches and products, and circulating it among its members.