Amid mounting worries that rising prices might singe Congress and its UPA partners in the coming elections, government on Wednesday vowed to crack down on cement and steel cartels and announced imports of one million tonnes of edible oil and 15 lakh tonnes of pulses. The announcements were made during the day-long discussion in Parliament on price spiral, with the Opposition and Left savaging government. Announcing the decision to import oil and pulses to deal with the demand-supply gap, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said all public sector companies have been asked to import edible oil which will be distributed at the subsidised rate of Rs 15 a litre, especially among BPL and Antyodaya families. Government also repeated its threat of wielding the stick, with finance minister P Chidambaram announcing "tough measures' against cement and steel "cartels' as well as hoarders, besides dropping hints that the central bank may take more steps to check liquidity when its annual credit policy is released on April 29. The finance minister, who was making an intervention, made no secret of governement's frustration with the cement and steel manufacturers not heeding desperate "hold the price line' signals. "The cement and steel manufacturers are behaving like a cartel,' charged finance minister P Chidambaram. He promised to take tough measures if the two industries did not mend their ways. "When the Cabinet Committee on Prices meets, I expect some measures to be taken,' said Chidambaram in a clear indication that combating inflation has moved to the top of government's "to do' list. The new sensitivity to the upward movement of price index was also reflected by Pawar's announcement that government would suspend the trading of essential commodities. By late evening, the steel ministry, putting an end to its dithering, has finalised a package of measures, to be cleared by PM, to roll back steel prices. Government's prescriptions include abolition of countervailing duty and rollback of the recent increase in railway freight. Steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the consensus was to bring down steel prices without causing revenue loss to the government. Other measures which were on the table include duty-free import of steel, abolition of excise, ban on steel futures trading. However it was not clear whether government would consider these entire measures, which according to the finance ministry would cost the exchequer Rs 5,000 crore. With warning bells ringing loudly, the steel ministry indicated to the Left that it's favourably inclined to consider proposal to put steel on the essential commodities list, and appoint a market regulator for the sector. Chidambaram declared that government would not hesitate to "sacrifice revenue to control prices' in what conclusively marked the end to the "growth versus inflation control' debate. From the point of the view of a government worried about the political fallout of prices on Congress's prospects in Karnataka, the measures have not come a day too soon. The hope in the government that indexes would stabilise soon has been replaced by the worry over indications that prices may be getting entrenched in what is deemed to be politically unsafe zone. RBI governor Y V Reddy underlined the danger when he, speaking in Washington, warned that inflation may spiral out of control. Chidambaram tried to put the blame for the price rise on galloping international prices of commodities as well as speculators back home. He also listed measures taken by the government to counter the charge that the government's response to the challenge had not been adequate. He talked of fiscal measures in the budget and those taken later to control prices. The RBI, he said, has already raised deposits by banks with the central bank eight times in recent past. He said RBI governor would assess the situation and might take appropriate monetary steps.