– Kishor Deshmukh, Proprietor, Hari Om Agency
ICR is constantly in touch with cement dealers, who are the crucial, connecting link between the manufacturer and the consumer. Dealers know the pulse of market, beat by beat. So we asked them how their business was going and what were the problems they were beset with. Here is their response, in their voice.
We have been involved with cement dealership for the past 25 years catering to the market in Aurangabad. We are exclusive dealers of Birla Gold and JK Cement. Our major part of business comes from retail market. Institutional sale is comparatively less as in big projects, the companies directly deal with projects and sell cement in bulk. Small dealers like us won?t be able to do so. On an average, we sell 200 tonne of cement. We have our godown to stock cement where the cement companies help in transporting cement. From the godown we have own transportation arrangement to supply to retail customers. We are not getting any specific support from cement companies in terms of customer service and technical service. However, Birla Gold has now appointed a person for after sales service to address the customer grievances.
The government needs to remove the anomalies in the tax structure levied on cement at various price levels. GST will be a good move in this direction which will help rationalise the tax structure.
The current market trend for cement is almost flat as there is no much growth happening. If the coming monsoon is good then there may be more work, especially from the small structures. In the government segment also there are no much works as of now. The state government is new and will take some time to understand the situation and respond. Recently after the municipal election in Aurangabad, new Mayor and members have taken charge. So in the near future, there may be some construction activities expected from the Municipal Corporation and the state government.