After builders accused cement manufacturers of indulging in cartelisation to jack up prices, cement manufacturers have hit out at builders saying they were misleading the government and that the government should look into their margins. The development comes a day after Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the cement industry was trying to raise prices through cartelisation and there was an urgent need for a regulator. Industry players from the South have created a new body South India Cement Manufacturers Association (SICMA), which will be headed by N Srinivasan, vice chairman ánd managing director, India Cements. The office bearers, including Ravinder Reddy, director, Bharthi Cements and vice president of SICMA and Krishna Srivastava, director, Penna Cements and Secretary of SICMA, alleged that what ails the cement industry and in-turn India's growth is the poor growth of the housing sector. They said that this was due to the artificially high price of flats/houses. There is a clear cartel working among builders under the banner of CREDAI and BAI, who are holding on to prices despite having a margin of more than 100 per cent, said the companies.