Tamil Nadu finance minister and leader of the house C Ponnaiyan on Tuesday alleged that the cement cartel in which ''union commerce minister Murasoli Maran, former Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK president M Karunanidhi and his family had extensive interest'' was looting rs 1,700 crore a year by artificially jacking up cement prices. Replying to the debate on the state budget for 2002-03, Ponnaiyan said that Maran and the ''Gopalapuram (residential area of Karunanidhi's family) gang'' had funnelled funds through the India Cement group headed by Srinivasn to acquire a number of cement companies in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh during the previous DMK government. “A cartel was then set up to jack up cement prices and those outside tamil nadu also fell in line,” he said.
The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was tolerating this ''loot'' since the party wanted the support of the DMK to stay in power, Ponnaiyan alleged.
The DMK members were not present in the house when Ponnaiyan made the allegation as they had earlier staged a walkout from the house on another issue and stayed away from the house for the day. However, members belonging to the BJP and the PMK, allies of the DMK, listened to Ponnaiyan without raising any protest . Bureau Report