Dealers and stockists are the vital link of the cement industry. They are the people, who are in constant touch with the user industry. They can be rightly said as the ‘pulse of the industry’. Through this column, we will bring to you the voice of the dealers and stockists. This column will feature their suggestion, expectation and much more, for a better tomorrow for the industry.SANJAY LADIWALA, The Tandur & Shahabad Stone Co, has been a dealer for the past 37 years. He is the dealer for Ultratech Cement, and when asked about the most popular grade of cement prefered by clients, Ladiwala replies that OPC 43 grade cement and OPC 53 grade cement is the winner. He mostly delivers his cement for use in infrastructural projects. Sanjay Ladiwala does not stock cement. When a retailer places an order, he get in touch with the manufacturer, i e, Ultratech Cement and they directly deliver it to the retailer. About the high level of taxes the cement delaers have to deal with, Ladiwala says that basis of levelling excise duty is completely wrong. "The decision makers have not studied the manner in which the excise duty should be charged. Today, it is charged on an MRP basis, it is charged on per unit basis, there are lot of loopholes. It is unfair and ambiguous", Ladiwala adds. He was also of the opinion that the manufacturer must lobby with the government to propose utilisation of PPC in all its projects. He is of the opinion that the margins should be high. He explains "though capacity of cement has increased manifold, the margin for the dealers have remained the same. They need to be revised mainly by the bigger companies. The smaller companies definitely offer a better margin. The same network looks after the increase in cement capacity. There is no addition in new dealers. On the contrary, many of them have closed shop". He continues "Stocking of cement is a costly affair, handling of cement itself is costly so i don’t stock cement". Sanjay Ladiwala is the President of Cement Dealers and Stockists Association of Bombay.