Union Minister of Roads, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari spoke about the cartelisation between steel and cement companies at a webinar organised by Builders Association of India (BAI). He wondered how the steel industry has been hiking prices considering that as all the companies have their own iron ore mines, there is no increase in labour or power rates. He also said cement factories, too, are taking advantage of the situation. He expressed that these decisions were not in the national interest.Worried about the rising prices, he said, “Given that we are planning to implement the infrastructure pipeline expenditure of Rs.111 trillion in the next five years, and it being the dream of our Prime Minister to make our economy equal $5 trillion, these prices as reflected in cement and steel will be detrimental. We are in the process of finding a solution. I think your suggestion of appointing a regulatory authority for steel and cement is a good suggestion. I will look into it but, ultimately, all decisions are not in my hands. I must take it to the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister.” Elaborating on the need for an escalation clause recommended by contractors to protect them from this abnormal price increase, he clarified, “We have an escalation formula in the contract document and escalation is paid accordingly. It may not be practicable to link this kind of escalation with the proposed system currently.”Previously, Gadkari had sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in curbing a 55 per cent rise in steel prices.