New Delhi: Binani Cement, which was yesterday questioned by the Supreme Court for not paying sales tax, on Saturday said that it is committed to making payment of the liability and is not in any manner trying to default.

In a statement issued by R S Joshi, President (Corporate Affairs), the company said it is only seeking instalments for making the payment as provided under law.

New Delhi, May 30 : Reliance Cement Company (RCC) Friday said it has entered the Madhya Pradesh market, setting up a service channel network in the state.

RCC is also planning to launch an on-site expert service in the state to assist consumers in home building, the company said in a statement.

RCC is a subsidiary of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure.

Chief executive Arvind Pathak said Madhya Pradesh is one of the largest cement consuming states in India with total consumption of around 14 million tons per annum.

Mumbai, May 21 : Reliance Cement Company (RCC) Wednesday entered the West Bengal market, setting up a service channel network in the state.

RCC is also planning to soon launch an on-site expert service in the state to assist consumers in home building, the company said in a statement.

RCC is a subsidiary of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani led Reliance Infrastructure.

Chief executive Arvind Pathak said West Bengal is one of the largest cement consuming states in Eastern India with total consumption of around 14 million tons per annum.

Cement giant Ambuja reported a marginal fall in net profit for the year ended December 2013, despite an impressive quarter-on-quarter increase in December quarter net profit.

Ambuja Cements announced that its net profit increased 49.31 per cent to Rs 316.50 crore in the October to December quarter of 2013, but net profit in the twelve months through December 31 slipped 0.19 per cent to Rs 1294.57 crore.

Ambuja Cements has gained public shareholders' for its proposal to buy a 24 per cent stake in Holcim India for Rs 3,500 crore.

The cement giant has just released a statement, claiming that 68.52 per cent of public shareholder voted in favour of its plan to buy the stake in Holcim India. As per available data, 87 per cent of the institutional investors had cast their votes.

Shares of Ambuja Cements came under intense pressure in early morning trade on Thursday, a day after the company reported a year-on-year decline of more than 30 per cent in its profit for the June quarter.

The company, on Wednesday, said that its profit slipped 31 per cent year-on-year to Rs 324 crore in the three months ended June 30.

Net sales slipped nearly 9 per cent to Rs 324 crore, while operating margins dropped 700 basis points to 21 per cent year-on-year in the quarter under review.

Indian Stock Markets closed marginally higher on Monday after a positive start for the trading session. Panic gripped forex markets as Indian currency faced major fall compared to USD. Indian currency touched its all-time low against USD and Euro.

Among top gainers in today's trading session were ACC, UltraTechCement and Infosys Technologies. Major losers were Jindal Steel, BHEL, BPCL and IndusInd Bank.

Reserve Bank of India has fined HDFC, Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank a small fine after investigation of charges of violation of KYC Norms and Anti-Money Laundering rules.

The India Cements Ltd (ICL), South India's largest cement producer by volume, on Thursday announced its decision to identify and trim its non-core assets.

ICL Vice Chairman & Managing Director N Srinivasan said that the company was evaluating every business it was involved in, and a call would be taken soon.

Speaking on the topic, he said, "They (investors) felt that the company is focusing more on other businesses than cement, which is wrong. Now we have decided to trim the non-cement business activities."

New Delhi, June 6 : The Supreme Court is likely to hear June 10 a plea by UltraTech Cement Limited challenging the order of the Competition Appellate Tribunal that asked the firm to deposit 10 percent of penalty imposed on it on a cartelization complaint.

The penalty was slapped by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) allegedly for engaging in cartelization with other cement manufacturers to manipulate cement prices.

Cement maker, Madras Cements Ltd has said that it has recorded a 35 per cent fall in net profit during the fourth quarter of the financial year 2012-2013.

The company's net profit fell 35 per cent to Rs. 64.15 crore and its net sales fell 5 per cent to Rs. 927.23 crore during the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter of the previous tear.

Chennai-based, India Cements has said that its net profit has fallen by a disappointing 60 per cent during the fourth quarter of the financial year 2012-2013 mainly due to rising input costs.

The Competition Appellate Tribunal (Compat) on Friday styed an order asking 100 cement makers to pay a combined penalty of Rs. 6,300 crore for allegedly acting in a cartel.

The tribunal said that the cement firms are required to pay 10per cent of the fine imposed by the authorities. The tribunal asked the cement companies to pay Rs. 630 crore of the combined fine that was imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in June previous year.

Cement major, ACC has recorded a whopping 189.2 per cent increase in its net profit during the first quarter of the year from January to March, 2013 compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

India's leading cement producer, UltraTech Cement has recorded a fall of 16.3 per cent in profit during the first quarter till March compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

UltraTech Cement, which is a part of the Aditya Birla Group, said that it recorded a net profit of Rs 726.2 crore during the quarter from January till March, 2013 compared to Rs 867.32 crore for the same quarter of the previous year. Company's total income increased from Rs 5529.14 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 to Rs 5572.52 crore in the first quarter of the year.

Shimla, April 4 : Cement companies operating their plants in Himachal Pradesh have been asked to lower their retail rates, state Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said Thursday.

"The cement companies will have to reduce the prices of a cement bag sold in the hill state," Agnihotri said in the assembly, in his reply to a debate on a private member's resolution moved by Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajiv Bindal on tapping limestone deposits.

The committee headed by the Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri is on the job to fond out ways to reduce prices of cement in Himachal Pradesh (HP), Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh informed the state assembly yesterday.

Trying to convince the Opposition over unbending high prices of cement in the state, Mr.  Virbhadra said that the government was in talks with cement companies to convince them to reduce cement prices in the state.

UltraTech Cement, a unit of Aditya Birla Group, has started discussions for acquiring an incomplete cement plant located in the state of Gujarat of ABG Cement, according to the reports.

According to a person closer to the matter, the company has appointed investment banking arm of Axis Bank, Axis Capital for advice on the deal to acquire the cement plant. UltraTech Cement has reportedly expressed interest in completing the project and expanding its cement business.

UltraTech Cement has said that its net profit has fallen 3 percent to Rs 601 crore rupees during the third quarter of the financial year.

The company had recorded a net profit of Rs 617 crore during the same quarter of the previous year. The figures also showed that the company's net sales increased to Rs 4,857 crore during the this quarter compared to to Rs 4,565 crore during the same period of the previous year.

The India Cements Ltd, South India's leading cement producer, pocketed a net profit of Rs 49.08 crore in seconded quarter of current fiscal, but the figure represents a decline of 30 per cent from a net profit of Rs 69.71 crore that the company had reported in the corresponding period of previous fiscal.

The cement producer held increased input costs responsible for the decline in the quarterly net profit. The power and fuel costs of the company jumped 21 per cent during the three months ended September 30 to Rs 328.48 crore.

JK Lakshmi Cement reported strong performance during second quarter of current financial year. The stock was trading 5 per cent higher and touched 52-week high in today's trade. The company reported Q2 net profit at Rs 50 crore compared to Rs 6.5 crore during same quarter last year. Sales were higher at Rs 491 crore compared to Rs 354 crore. ACC and UltraTechCement were marginally higher while Ambuja Cements was trading lower.