In line with the plan to construct cement concrete highways, instead of bitumen ones, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday launched a web portal , www.inampro.nic.in, to facilitate cement procurement and delivery. INAM-PRO, which stands for platform for infrastructure and materials providers, will monitor the supply of cement and hasten the process of orders by prospective users and agencies with the respective cement manufacturers.

The portal aims to facilitate contractors and cement buyers for central as well as state-funded roads, highways and bridge construction projects. Cement orders will be placed online with the registered cement companies, which will in turn offer prices in the vicinity of project-execution locations.

As of now, 36 participating cement manufacturers will quote rates from 103 factories across India, along with the cement stock available, on the web portal. The procurer/road developer can view the asking price as well as the closest factory price.

While cement costs are arguably lower than market prices, the catch is that the quoted price of cement on the portal is exclusive of taxes and transportation costs.

“The portal provides a buyer-seller platform without any intermediary,” said Vijay Chhibber, secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. With focus on supply-demand in the cement sector, this would make the factories utilise their capacity to full potential, Chhibber added.

With INAM-PRO, the ministry hopes to increase transparency in the process and, thus, counter inflationary pricing through cartelisation by cement companies.