Drug Prices-Increases at All Costs

the sharp increase in fuel oil prices in January this year. They will now rise further following the hike of Rs 20 per tonne in coal prices announced recently. It was, therefore, about time that the administered prices of steel and pig iron were revised to keep pace with costs, But that was not all. With the very high premit prevailing on almost all steel items in the open market, over the administered prices fixed by the Joint Plants Committee (JPC), the administered prices had lost their significance. Middlemen have been making much money up to Rs 1,000 to Rs 2.000 of black per tonne. This premium has been helped by the fact that there has been no control on the prices charged by secondary producers such .is re-rolling mills. Since the prevailing prices of some of the items are already much higher than even the revised prices, IPC's price hike, of around Rs 500 to Rs 530 a tonne may not result in a corresponding uniform rise in the prices of steel items in the market. It is also possible that supplies of various steel items will improve since the bogus demands made by certain 'users' would decline with the fall in premia.