Jayalalithaa launches 'Amma Cement scheme'—a cement bag at Rs190 - Livemint

Jayalalithaa has earlier started popular schemes such as Amma Canteen that sells ‘idlis’ for Re1, Amma Bottled Water for Rs10 and Amma Pharmacy that sells medicines at cheap rates. Photo: PTI

Chennai: Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa on Friday announced yet another subsidy programme called Amma Cement Scheme through which a 50kg bag of the building material will be sold for Rs.190 compared with the market price of Rs.320-360 per bag.

Jayalalithaa, also called amma (mother) by her supporters, has earlier started popular schemes such as Amma Canteen that sells idlis (rice dumplings) for Rs.1, Amma Bottled Water for Rs.10 and Amma Pharmacy that sells medicines at cheap rates.

The chief minister said she has been in discussions with officials on the production of cement in the southern state and supply from outside.

The erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh contributed about 450,000 tonnes of cement for Tamil Nadu’s monthly average use of 1.8 million tonnes, but the companies there have now hiked the prices by Rs.80-100 per bag, she said.

“Subsequently, the supplies to Tamil Nadu had reduced to around 150,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes, creating a favourable situation for the private manufacturers here to increase price of cement,” she said in a statement.

Therefore, she had directed officials to roll out the Amma Cement Scheme that aims to benefit the lower and middle classes, where the government will procure 200,000 tonnes of cement from private manufacturers every month and sell them through urban and rural local bodies at Rs.190 per bag.

Beneficiaries are eligible for a maximum of 750 bags to build 1,500 sq. ft, and the cement could be bought by submitting the government-approved building or road plan, she said.

Those wanting to buy cement for repair and renovation are eligible for 10 to 100 cement bags, she said.

The Tamilnadu Cements Corp. Ltd will be the nodal agency while the scheme will be implemented by Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corp. Ltd and the rural development department through their 470 warehouses.

The scheme will also cover the state’s Green House programme and the central government’s Indira Awas Yojana, Jayalalithaa said, adding that it will help ease the burden of the lower and middle classes in constructing a house.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

from Top Stories - Google News http://ift.tt/1n7ZWNM

via IFTTT