September 17, 2017

Cement Brands and College Days ( 1975-80 )

In 1960 s , RIL did not mean Reliance Industries Limited. 

It stood for ROHTAS INDUSTRIES LIMITED. ( of Ram Krishan Dalmia group ).

I remember my college days in Delhi ,in late 1970 s when I used to come in a Three Wheeler from New Delhi Railway station to St. Stephen's College via Filmistan Cinema ( Opp DCM Mills )and Hindu Rao Hospital . In between we passed through Old Subzi Mandi. Around old Subzi Mandi there was a building on which was etched , probably , in cement an advertisement -

" ALWAYS USE ROHTAS PORTLAND CEMENT "

Contd.----


This ad , in 1970 s ,was ironical in two ways :-

1 ) Firstly , in 1970 Rohtas Cement had stopped production.

2 ) At that time , consumers of cement did not have the luxury of choosing their brand.

At that time , Govt. departments issued Cement permits ( after due bureaucratic procedures / corruption ) and told cement consumers to pick up their cement bags from specified suppliers

And AT GOVT RATES.

Govt. specified the Selling prices of cement ( there was a flourishing black market ) and cement bags were in the august company of American Dollar. Both had one official rate and one Black market rate )

Govt appointed Loveraj Kumar Committee to determine the fair price of cement It divided all Cement pants in to 3 categories. As per the skewed permit / quota Raj , inefficient old wet process cements were allowed to charge more than the new Dry process plants. Subsidising inefficiency.

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In those my college days , ( 1975-80 ) the biggest dealer of ACC cement in Delhi was a firm named Atma Ram Chadha ( ARC ). They had diversified and put up a premium cinema house in New Delhi around Greater Kailash named ARC-CHANA  We saw many English movies in this theater  

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Then in 1980s when many Mini Cement plant companies came up, Atma Ram Chadha group floated a Public Limited Company ( with a IPO ) named ARC Cements Limited. It put up a mini cement plant around Dehradun - Mussoorie Road. Later , this plant was closed because of environmental issues. Other Mini Cement plant shares of those times were Dhar Cement ( plant at Damoh , MP ) etc.

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Rohtas Industries Limited ( initially named Rohtas Sugar ) of Ram Krishan Dalmia group was a very dynamic company. Its shares , in Delhi Stock Exchange , were listed in the " Forward " list meaning its transactions could be carried forward to the next settlement by paying a " Badla "amount.

Rohtas Industries , after sugar and cement put put Paper and Vanaspati ( Hanuman Vanaspati  Units. All its products were in shorty supply and commanded a premium in the grey markets.

In 1938 , Rohtas Industries cement plant was inaugurated by the Great Freedom Struggle Leader, Netaji Subhash Chander Bose   

   

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