Tirupati: Cement, steel prices sky rocket

Tirupati: The cascading effects of the imminent power crisis have started looming over the most important construction sector already. The manufacturers of cement and steel have increased the prices abnormally during the past one week and the effect could be seen on other construction materials also.

The power plants at many places in the country are going to be hit severely if there is a fall in the coal supply. The AP government's advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy also announced recently that power shedding may become unavoidable in the State. Anticipating the future scenario of power crisis, the powerful cement syndicate and the steel manufacturers have immediately plunged into action and revised the prices upward.

According to local dealers, the price of a 50-kg cement bag was Rs 410-420 till October 3, the cement syndicate has announced a dispatch holiday for three days from October 4-6 and hiked the price by Rs 60 to Rs70 at one stroke. Accordingly, the current invoice price of each A-grade cement bag is Rs 470.

Similarly, steel prices have gone up from Rs 55,000 per tonne by the end of September, to Rs 64,000 by October 4. Vizag steel prices have gone up from Rs 60,000 per tonne to Rs 66,000 now.

These steep increases in the prices will have a huge impact on the realty sector and those constructing houses. In Chittoor district alone, about 60-70 tonnes of cement and 12-15 tonnes of steel are being sold per month.

President of Tirupati Chamber of Commerce, and Cement and Steel Merchants' Association A Manjunath explained to The Hans India that there was a drop of around 30 per cent demand on every aspect in the construction sector for the past two-and-a- half years. Even with the drop in demand, cement companies have been constantly increasing prices.

With the current burden on cement, steel and other items, many constructions which are about to start and at the initial stages have stopped and those in final stages are being completed and it is said that the final price of the buildings would see further hike.

It is estimated that the cost of a small double bed room house may go up by another 30 per cent to 40 per cent with the huge price increases of various inputs. Similarly, due to hike in fuel prices, there has been a surge in prices of plywood, glass, sand and gas for compressors of air-conditioners. Film producers, distributors and theatre owners welcomed the decision of the State government and thanked Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Minister for Information and Public Relations Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani). They termed it as a Dasara gift to entire film industry.