Concern expressed over growing construction cost

Vijayawada: Construction cost will not come down as long as the Central government do not control cement and steel prices in the market, Builders Association of India and National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) Joint Action Committee said here on Friday.

NAREDCO vice-president Ch Ramesh Babu has said that the cost for the construction of new buildings will not come down as long as the steel and cement costs are controlled.  

The support of the state government was favourable towards the builders as it was supplying free sand which was not done earlier by any government. The construction cost was brought down after free sand was supplied. But due to cement and steel cost which had gone up in the recent past, the construction cost is also shooting up.

He said that for the last two years, the construction cost due to the steep raise in the price of cement and steel and other construction material. About 15 per cent of the construction cost will be of steel, he said.

City unit president Vemuri Subba Rao said after demonetisation, the construction activity hit a bad phase and was slowly recovering. The GST had its impact on the construction business which witnesses a slight relief now. Due to the GST, the prices of major construction raw material like cement and steel had gone up.

He said steel consumption was around 3.5 kg per sqft, which will accumulate in the total cost of the construction activity, and the present market cannot withstand the price hike. There should be continuous monitoring of the cost of the construction material, he adds.