BackJK Lakshmi Cement to file appeal before Appellate Tribunal against CCI order
JK Lakshmi Cement is among the seven cement companies that were slapped with a penalty of nearly Rs206 crore by CCI on charges of cartelization
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Mumbai: Cement manufacturer JK Lakshmi Cement Ltd on Friday denied allegations of “cartelization" and said it plans to file an appeal before the Competition Appellate Tribunal against a penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
JK Lakshmi Cement is among the seven cement companies that on Thursday were slapped with a penalty of nearly Rs206 crore by the CCI on charges of cartelization.
According to CCI’s order, the firms—Shree Cement Ltd, UltraTech Cement Ltd, Jaiprakash Associates Ltd, JK Cement Ltd, Ambuja Cements Ltd, ACC Ltd and JK Lakshmi Cement were found indulging in bid rigging in a cement procurement tender by the Haryana government for supplying cement to state departments, boards and corporations.
ALSO READ | CCI fines seven cement firms Rs206 crore for cartelization
“JK Lakshmi Cement is a responsible corporate entity, conscious of its obligations towards all its stakeholders. We deny the allegations against us and intend to file an appeal before the Honourable Competition Appellate Tribunal," the company’s spokesperson said in a statement.
Meanwhile, rating agency India Ratings and Research on Friday said the CCI penalty could “shave off under 2%" of the seven companies’ operating profits. “The impact however is credit neutral on the companies due to their low leverage levels," the agency said.
The CCI on Thursday noted in its 120-page order that the anti-competitive activities of the companies had led to the cancellation of the tender and forced the Haryana government to start the process afresh. This had caused “possible delay in timely supply for the execution of public infrastructure projects which may result in time and cost overrun", the CCI said.
This is the second penalty this fiscal over and above the Rs6,715 crore penalty imposed by the CCI in August 2016 on 11 cement companies. Except JK Lakshmi Cement, all the six other companies had been penalized earlier in that cartelization case.
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