Hyderabad: After cement, the prices of sand, concrete and bricks have started increasing sharply, making cost of construction rise manifold in the last two years. While the price of cement increased from Rs 250 in November to Rs 335 per bag, the sharp rise in other construction raw materials has become a cause of concern for the industry.
A tractor load of sand, which was sold for Rs 2,000 till October is now being sold for Rs 3,000. Similarly, the cost of concrete, which was sold for Rs 2,800 per unit till October has now increased to Rs 3,500. The cost of each brick has gone up from Rs 5 against Rs 3.50 earlier.
People from middle income groups are being forced to stop their construction plans owing to steep increase in raw material costs. “Construction cost has more than doubled over the last two years. The cement price was Rs 180 per bag in 2013. Now it has increased to Rs 335.
If a person had spent Rs 10 lakh on constructing a house on an open plot in 2013, he has to spend Rs 25 lakh now for the same house,” said Mr B. Shivakumar of TS Builders Association.
The sand reaches in Telangana are not fully operational due to shortage of staff in TSMDC, leading to scarcity of sand and escalation of prices. Many builders have stopped projects midway hoping for a price correction of raw materials in 2016.
