The Builders’ Association of India has suggested setting up an independent regulator for the cement industry on the lines of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, following the recent cartelisation by cement majors. The Regulator should have quasi-judicial authority, BAI trustee DL Desai said. He told the media in Madurai on July 25 that the Competition Commission of India’s penalty of Rs 6,300 crore on 11 cement companies last month for violating provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 was a landmark judgement under the act.He suggested CCI follow the trend set by its sister bodies like tribunals of Income tax, sales tax and Excise Departments and cement companies to deposit 50 per cent of the fine before accepting their petition. The BAI would oppose tooth and nail any petition from cement companies seeking a stay on recovery of the penalty.The development in this case, Desai said, would be pathbreaking in fighting cartelisation in vital commodity sectors. According to him the fine of Rs. 6,400 crore was meagre compared to profits earned by the industry with an installed capacity of 320 million tonne, with the present demand standing at 250 mt.CCI’s penalty on them was only 0.5 times their profits in 2009-10 and 2010-11, he said. He pointed out that even the Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by Shantha Kumar had concluded that price escalation in the cement sector was profit-driven and had recommended setting up a regulator.