In the wake of soaring cement prices, the Tamil Nadu government threatened to take over private cement factories in the state, saying it had no other alternative but to go in for this step if the units did not come forward to reduce the price in public interest.

An official press release said a decision in this regard was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by the Chief Minister M Karunanidhi at the Secretariat.

The meeting, which reviewed the hike in the price of cement, also decided to import one lakh tonnes of cement by Tamil Nadu Cements Corporation through MMTC to tide over the shortage.

The imported cement would be distributed to the public through the state civil supplies corporation at the cost price without any profit, the release said.

It was also decided that the cement corporation would float global tenders for direct import of cement at the earliest.

The construction industry and political parties had flayed the state government for not taking steps to reduce the cement price. Shortage of cement had brought construction activities of the government and public to a grinding halt.

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