KOCHI: A meeting of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) Kochi chapter urged the government to intervene and control the spiralling prices of construction materials including cement, steel and aggregates. The builders are in deep distress and will be forced to increase cost by Rs 1000 per sq feet, said president Ravi Jacob.
"The rate of cement has doubled during the past one year and the price of steel has gone up from Rs 47 per kg to Rs 90 per kg. The recent Supreme Court order on minimum distance of stone quarries from residential areas will lead to acute shortage of aggregates. The construction sector was showing signs of revival after the lockdown when the cement prices recorded a steep rise. This will bring the
construction sector to a standstill and affect the consumers adversely," he said.
Meanwhile, the South Indian Cement Manufacturers Association (SICMA) informed in a media release that the shortage of coal has led to an increase in production cost and the price of cement may go up by a minimum of Rs 60 per bag.
"The last few months have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the cost of imported coal and the substitute pet coke is simply not available. Due to shortage of vessels, even high priced coal is not available. Informed sources say that there will be further increase in the cost of coal. It is difficult to predict either further increase in fuel cost or the capacity utilisation that can be achieved by the cement industry in the near future," said the release.