Himachal Pradesh chief minister Mr PK Dhumal urged Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh to declare cement as controlled item and bring it under the purview of Essential Commodities Act to make the commodity cheaper in the state.

The move was taken after cement manufacturers in the state refused to cut down its prices.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Dhumal said it is a matter of concern that cement produced in Himachal is cheaper in Punjab and Haryana than that of its producing state.

The chief minister said the problem of higher price of cement in the state started after the commodity was decontrolled in 2002 and exempted from the purview of Essential Commodities Act to facilitate market competition. He said the decontrol of cement has hit the consumers hard in Himachal instead of benefiting them.

He said that in a free market economy, it was assumed that the market forces would throw up the ideal retail selling price of cement at any given location on account of competition amongst several suppliers but this did not happen.

Mr Dhumal said that "Such ideal free market conditions did not exist at any locations in Himachal...the three major cement manufacturing companies in the state had been fixing retail prices at various locations in an arbitrary and irrational manner and as a result...cement was cheaper in neighbors states and costly in the producing state.”

(Sourced from ET)