Ambuja Cement (down 2.81% to Rs 128.20), Prism Cement (down 2.25% to Rs 47.80), UltraTech Cement (down 1.87% to Rs 1008), ACC (down 1.72% to Rs 972.60), Shree Cement (down 1.32% to Rs 1706) dropped.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 91.66 points, or 0.51% to 18,040.58.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) is acting under the directions of the ministry of corporate affairs, which is its nodal ministry, reports suggest. The investigation will reportedly examine the conduct of the cement companies over a 10-year period. UltraTech, Ambuja Cements and ACC together control a little over one-third of the country's total cement manufacturing capacity of 300 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, cement players saw their tax outgo shrinking in Q1 June 2011. As per reports, ACC's tax bill declined to Rs 45 crore from Rs 50 crore in Q1 June 2010. Ambuja Cement's tax outgo declined to Rs 50 crore from Rs 65 crore. But, UltraTech bucked the trend with a sharp spike in its tax bill at Rs 37 crore against Rs 22 crore.