Competition Commission of India (CCI), India’s competition watchdog, is expected to slap a fine of about Rs 3,000 crore on top cement companies, ruling them guilty of forming a cartel and fixing prices. The CCI’s order is expected in a few days, sources said.Based on a complaint by Builders Association of India (BAI), CCI was probing the cartelisation charges. CCI alleged that the retail prices fixed by cement manufacturers were almost similar.A top source in CCI said the watchdog had the power to impose a fine of 10 per cent of the average turnover of a company in previous three years, but it would scale down the penalty as the economy was facing a slump and cement was a key input in critical sectors.A top source in CCI told a leading business newspaper that cement can affect market sentiments to a great effect. So, it was decided that CCI would impose a token punishment of 5-8 per cent of the past three years’ average turnover to send a stern signal to the guilty companies without hampering market sentiments.