Building and construction companies in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have stopped buying cement stocks for the past two days in protest against the unprecedented 50 per cent spurt in prices in the past few weeks.
Builders had last week announced their decision not to lift cement stocks during July 5-12 as a mark of their protest alleging cartelisation in pricing by the Cement Manufacturers' Association.
Cement prices have gone up from about Rs 190-210 to Rs 300-310 per bag in the past few weeks and the construction sector believes there is no justification for such sudden rise in cement prices.
This has impacted construction activity, sources said.