Sand, stone price crisis requests govt to intervene

Assam Real Estate and Infrastructure Developers Association (Areida) requested the state government to intervene into the problem of acute scarcity and unabated price rise of sand and stone chips. The real estate body said they have been suffering huge losses for the last few years. Sand and stone chips which used to cost Rs 1,100 and Rs 1,500 per cm is now selling at Rs 1,800 and Rs 2,800 respectively. The quantities available even at these inflated prices are grossly insufficient and a large number of projects have been stalled and workers are being laid off. This sector has otherwise received a boost across India, with as many as 20 different support initiatives notified by the central government, including the Prime Minister's flagship programme AwaasYojana (PMAY) and the earnest endeavour of the government to provide affordable housing to all by 2022. Unfortunately, while other states have made significant progress taking advantage of the government's liberal policies, Assam have unfortunately languished. While the prices of apartments have shot up by 30% over the last year due to the crisis, many houses have remained unsold.