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Home is still a distant dream
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The steep rise in the prices of construction materials has hit the construction activity in Bangalore, says A. B. SUDHINDRA
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Nagesh H.V., an engineer by profession, is a worried man these days. His dreams are going awry. He started building his “dream home” a few months ago and he surely is learning a few hard lessons, which he says is affecting his health. He says his budget has overrun by 50 per cent due to the rise in the prices of construction materials.
Now, he is looking for ways to generate funds to bear the additional burden. “As the days pass by, my dream will become costlier. Once you start the process, it is difficult to give up midway. It is like being neither here nor there. Somehow, I have to arrange for finances,” says Nagesh.
No cheer
Many in Bangalore are in such a plight. Although this man is aware of the measures taken by the authorities to keep the soaring prices in check, they have not brought a huge cheer to him.
Not only Nagesh but the entire construction industry in Bangalore is trying to deconstruct the present scenario. No doubt the measures taken by the Centre have brought down the prices of cement as well as steel.
The price of steel, which was at Rs.52,000 per tonne, has come down to Rs.42,000 and is expected to go down by another Rs.2,000.
The price of cement is hovering between Rs. 240 and Rs. 260 per bag. However, the industry is not ready to take a guess on how long this happy trend will continue.
Many in the industry wish that the prices of steel and cement would go down further but they hasten to add that the price of sand and size-stone is still high. A lorry load of river sand costs around Rs.14,000 and size-stone (8”), Rs.16.
Slowdown
The steep rise in the prices of construction materials has badly hit the construction activity in Bangalore. Though it has not come to a complete standstill, the work has slowed down.
This has not only resulted in delay in completing the projects but also cost overruns. This in turn has brought incomprehensible misery not only to the individual builder but also to large construction groups.
M. Ramesh, secretary of the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association, says that many contractors are yet to restart the work, which they had stopped a few months ago. “Nobody is confident and no one is ready to take the risk as well,” he says.
The members of the Builders Association of India (BAI), an umbrella organisation of the All India Association of Engineering Construction Contractors, also voice the same feeling. The delay in completing the projects and the mounting cost has hurt the large construction groups too. The promises have remained promises only.
“We had promised our customers that we will handover the possession of their flats in July. Many of our customers are upset that the process is taking too long and we are at our wit’s end to convince them,” says Raju. P., representative of a builder.
Says K. Subramani, State Chairman of BAI, “The steady price of cement and the fall in steel price has given us some relief. But it is hard to say how long this will continue. Our sources have said that the steel price may go up after three months.”
Chamaraja Reddy, Chairman of BAI, adds that the industry will feel happy only when the prices of construction materials go down further or what he terms as their “original prices”: steel at Rs. 26,000 per tonne; cement at Rs.140 per bag and sand at Rs. 6,000 per lorry load.
Construction industry wants:
Steel at Rs. 26,000 per tonne.
Cement at Rs.140 per bag.
Sand at Rs. 6,000 per lorry load.
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Property Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Kochi
Malabar
Thiruvananthapuram
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