Mumbai: Cement companies made a killing during the construction boom in fiscal 2006-07 - a year that saw their net profit rise almost three-fold - despite accusations by the government of burdening consumers with high prices.

Net sales of cement companies went up by 50.5 per cent during the year while profits zoomed by 183.4 per cent, RBI said in an analysis - ''Performance of private corporate business sector: 2006-07''. RBI attributed the impressive increase sale of cement to "higher output as also higher prices received during the year."

A dual excise duty regime announced in this year''s budget to persuade companies to roll back the cost failed to check rising cement prices, finance minister P Chidambaram later admitted.

The net profit margin for the cement and cement products industry, the RBI said, improved from 9.2 per cent to 17.3 per cent in 2006-07, indicating higher profit realisation on sale.