The rapid increase in cement and steel prices has raised worries by many real estate developers as well as those constructing individual houses in Hyderabad.

The real estate developers who are starting up the construction process after lockdown claim that in the last few months, steel prices have risen by at least 30 percent and cement prices by around 20 percent.

Rising Steel & Cement Costs Worried Builders 

Ramakrishna Rao, President of CREDAI Hyderabad, stated that the price has been skyrocketing for the past two months, and it has been continuing to rise quite sharply. The price of cement has also risen, and it keeps fluctuating. They have the habit of stopping all delivery for ten days at most at the beginning of the month or at the end of the month to generate an artificial shortage.

The developers stated that the price of cement for a 50 kg bag, which was around Rs 350, went up to Rs 430 to Rs 450 per bag in January 2020. Also, the steel per tonne rate, which was around Rs 40,000, had now gone Rs 55,000. The cement industry's main strategy is that they first raise the price by Rs 35 or Rs 40 and then decrease it by Rs 10. The steel and cement industries are causing issues for real estate, which would impact on the selling price of the property.

The body also requested the involvement of the government to control prices. The price increases of almost 30 percent are a huge hit for developers because the selling price remains unchanged. Many developers are forced to stop construction work, which adversely impacts project completion.

By: Shailaja K