Govt urges cos for steel at fair price

Hyderabad: Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K T Rama Rao urged the steel companies to supply material for the two-bedroom houses at reasonable prices in order to increase the input cost of the construction of 2BHKs for poor.

The Minister accompanied by Housing Minister A Indrakaran Reddy held a meeting with the representatives of the steel companies and reviewed fluctuation in the prices in open market. He said Telangana required 1.45 lakh metric tonnes of steel for construction of one lakh houses in rural areas and 1.04 lakh metric tonnes of steel for 60,000 houses in the urban areas.

Another 2.78 lakh metric tonnes of steel required for the construction of one lakh houses under Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits. The total steel requirement for the construction of nearly three lakh houses is 5.27 lakh metric tonnes.

Rama Rao told the steel company representatives that cement companies already came forward and suppled a bag of cement at Rs 230 for the purpose of poor housing. He urged the companies to come to the rescue of the government by supplying steel at lower prices.

The Minister assured the companies it will make the payments on line without any delay as the adopted transparent methods in procuring steel. The representatives informed the Minister that they will discuss the issue with the managements of steel companies and take a decision on reducing the prices. On behalf of the government, Special Chief Secretary to Housing Chitra Ramachandran was entrusted to pursue the issue with the companies.