Interestingly, other cement manufacturers, including ACC and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) have been spared. The decision was taken at a morcha organised by the Builders Association of India (BAI) and Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MHCI) on Friday in Mumbai. According to MHCI president Rajni Ajmera, "we want to break the cartelisation and hence, corner any two major cement manufacturers. Our strategy is purely to break the cartelisation by the cement manufacturers."

Mr Ajmera added that the local association members would also request all the state governments not to buy cement from these two companies and join the protest. The state government projects consume about 20 per cent of the cement produced by all the companies.

BAI spokesperson Vimal Shah said, "the decision was taken by the association members since civil work cannot be stalled." He added that the names of these two cement manufacturers were randomly chosen. "This is our way of protest and getting back at the cement manufacturers," he added.

The association had announced on January 15 that all civil works would be stopped in protest against the manner in which cement prices were hiked.

However, sources said that civil works continued in spite of the boycott announced by the construction industry.A Gujarat Ambuja official said that "the decision if true, was alarming."

Industry sources pointed out that in all probability Gujarat Ambuja and Grasim were targeted as these two companies were the first to cancel all previous contracts after the price hikes. However, company officials denied that such a decision was taken by Gujarat Ambuja.

It remains to be seen whether the other major manufacturers, namely L&T and ACC stand by these two companies now, sources pointed out.

Analysts said that Gujarat Ambuja mainly has presence in the trading segment and not in the retail segment. Thus, the boycott may not affect them in its entirety and it may divert supplies to the government.

Industry sources point out that sole agents of Grasim and Gujarat Ambuja might be affected as the result of the boycott.

Meanwhile, the dealers and stockists association will be holding a general body meeting on Saturday to discuss the current crisis.

Grasim and Gujarat Ambuja account for over 25 per cent of the cement consumption in Mumbai, which is the largest market in India. In a related development, the Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has convened a meeting between the CMA, BAI and MHCI on Monday to discuss the current crisis.