SUNIL PODAR, Grace Corporation, has been a dealer since 1986. In the year 1995, he became an exclusive dealer of Ultratech Cement. To our question on volatility in price, he replies "it does not affects much as the Mumbai market is basically a non trade market where a company directly raises the bill to a party and we get a commission on it. So, the price is controlled by manufacturers, which is normally fixed on a monthly basis". He expects that manufacturer should fix the commission on percentage basis so that the dealers and stockist are able to enjoy the benefits of price increase. On the tax front, he advocats a single policy in the tax structure throughout India and is of the opinion that anti-dumping duty on import of cement should be re-introduced and excise duty should be reduced. His monthly dispatch is around 10,000 tonne. "Sales can be improved provided there is increase in commission and yearly incentives. Plus the supply of cement should be regular and timely to the customers as they don’t mind paying a higher price if the supply is available on time", Podar suggests. He continues "blended cement sells more than the OPC cement as there is very little awareness about OPC cement". Increase in diesel and petrol prices does not affect our profit, since the order placed by the client is directly delivered to them by the manufacturer. Podar is satisfied with the current packaging and suggests that if the hooks are not used during handling there would be less wastage of cement. He is very optimistic on the central government declaration to abolish octroi and replace it with GST to avoid delays at octroinaka. Sunil Podar is the Executive Committee Member of Cement Dealers and Stockists Association of Bombay.