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Suresh P. Iyengar
S.Shanker

The condition that the imports must be on a continuous basis has also been scrapped.

Mumbai June 1 In a move to ease procedural delays in cement imports, the Union Government has permitted cement to be procured from pre-identified sources, which have a licence to use ISI mark in accordance with the Foreign Manufacturers' Certification Scheme of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

Further, the imports can now be done freely unlike in the past when only end-users were permitted.

The condition that the imports must be on a continuous basis has also been scrapped. The Directorate-General of Foreign Trade has notified these changes and these will be in force till March 31 next.

As on April 24, BIS had certified 11 cement manufacturers from the UAE, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Earlier, many overseas cement consignments had been stuck at ports for want of BIS certification.

Mr Anand J. Gupta, Chairman, Builders' Association of India, Mumbai Chapter, said a recent consignment from Pakistan had to be diverted to Dubai due to procedural difficulties in obtaining BIS certification. Another consignment has been held up at Attari, as his association member was yet to obtain the certification.

Mr Gupta claimed that the builder fraternity would be in a position to reduce prices by at least Rs 55 per square foot if they were allowed to import without hassles.

Foreign manufacturers have to apply for the BIS certification, which involves inspection of their factories and satisfactory testing of samples by the Indian agency. The exporting company will have to pay one per cent of its annual export contract value to the BIS as marking fees, in addition to a minimum-marking fee of $2,000. The licence is valid for two years and can be renewed.

While a bag (50 kg) costs Rs 251 in Mumbai, foreign manufacturers were ready to supply cement at Rs 140 (ex-Mumbai), Mr Gupta said.

In an effort to curb rising domestic cement prices, the Union Government had removed all duties on cement imports and had even sought the cement manufacturers cooperation in holding their price line at Rs 190 a bag.

More Stories on : Cement | Exports & Imports

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