CHENNAI: The State government may delay ordering the second consignment of sand imported from Malaysia after the first consignment of 56,750 tonnes of imported sand that arrived last month has failed to pick pace with only 418 trucks shipping out 4,413 tonnes of sand.
The sales started on October 8 initially with 24 trucks loaded with 287 tonnes of sand.
“On October 13, it rose to 135 trucks loading 1,350 tonnes of sand and we expected it to rise substantially. But it has yet to pick up,” said Kamarajar Port officials.
Although the cost of sand is cheap and priced at Rs 10,350 per unit (of 4.5 tonnes) at Ennore Port, the real challenge is the price of transporting it. S Ram Prabhu, secretary, Builders Association of India, told Express that the cost including freight charges comes to nearly Rs 15,000 which is more or less the price of sand available locally.
As a result, most of the developers are happily going for the local sand rather for the Malaysian sand, he said, stressing the need for the government to bring down the freight charges to make it cheaper. Ajit Kumar Chordia, president, Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India, (CREDAI), Tamil Nadu, says that the lack of demand for imported sand could be attributed to developers going for m-sand.
He says that in his construction site, 90 per cent of work is being carried through m-sand. Interestingly, the biggest challenge before the government is to win the confidence of developers in buying imported sand.
It is learnt that the second consignment initially planned within a month is now being delayed as officials are hoping to sell the sand procured during the first consignment.
Interestingly, the sand crisis in the state has hit not only the construction sector but also the road construction projects and the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has allowed contractors to go for bituminous roads with a shelf life of 15 years.