Const Costs Hit Roof as Raw Materials Price Spike
Crucial inputs such as steel, cement, sand, stone aggregates, plywood materials and M Sand have seen a price increase in the last one year, pushing up the overall construction cost. The construction of individual homes has become expensive with cost per square for a moderate structure going up from a range of ?1.5 lakh-?1.75 lakh to ?2 lakh-?2.5 lakh. “Roughly, in the last one year, the cost of construction has gone up by about 35%. This has been caused by increasing diesel prices and a shortage of labour,” said M. Ramesh from Builders Association of India, Karnataka chapter. Labour cost alone has increased by almost 25% after migrant labour left Bengaluru during the last lockdown, he said, adding that the situation had not improved much since. He said that the sluggishness in the industry has slowed down the payments, choking several contractors. In the last one year, while steel (TOR steel) price has gone up from a band of ?55,000-?60,000 per tonne to ?64,000-?73,000, the price of structural steel has increased from about ?65,000-?70,000 a tonne to ?80,000-?90,000. Cement price moved from about ?350-?400 per bag to ?440-?460. The cost of a lorry load of river sand has exceeded ?1 lakh. The M Sand used for plastering has seen its cost increase to?1,300-?1,700 from about ?1,200-?1,300 a tonne. Plywood cost has gone up by 20 %. Similarly, the price of solid concrete blocks, bricks, plumbing and sanitary ware have also seen an increase. According to Ramesh, except for paint that has only seen a marginal hike, all others have seen a steep increase.
Tags : ALLIED Cement Steel raw materials price Spike Construction Costs stone