MMTC gets govt nod to import cement without BIS mark

New Delhi, Aug 14 (UNI) The Central government today allowed Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation (MMTC) to import cement without the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) mark to stablise its prices in the domestic market.

This, the sources in the Commerce Ministry said, will facilitate import of cement from Pakistan which, according to its Commerce Secretary Syed Asif Ali Shah, has a surplus of about 15 million tonnes every year.

During the recent Commerce Secretary-level dialogue between the two nations, Pakistan had offered to export cement to India and the latter had facilitated it by inspecting quality standard of the cement manufacture in Pakistan by a team of BIS officials.

The state-owned MMTC has been mandated to import cement from such foreign manufacturers whose applications have been recorded by BIS as per provisions of the Cement (Quality Control) Order, an official statement said this evening.

The exemption from BIS mark shall be applicable for 150 days from the date of recording of their applications or till the grant of regular license by BIS, whichever is earlier.

However, MMTC will ensure conformity of imported cement to the specified standards of BIS and also ensure special marking on each bag of imported cement.

MMTC will leverage its strength and experience in the field of import to bring large quantity of cement into the domestic market, which is likely to have a salutary effect on the cement prices, which of late has shown signs of stabilising. This unique mechanism has been devised to facilitate import of cement without compromising on the quality.

This step is in continuation of the government's efforts to augment the availability of cement in the domestic market. An analysis of various inputs for cement showed that only marginal rise have taken place in the input costs while the prices of cement have risen by nearly 45 per cent between January 2006 and July, 2007 which has been a cause of concern to the Government.

The Government had initiated measures like reduction of import duty from 12.5 per cent to nil, withdrawal of countervailing duty and special additional customs duty and introduction of a combination of specific duty and ad-valorem duty structure on cement.

UNI