CREDAI has written to the Hon’ble Prime Minister & all concerned Ministries and urged them to take note of cartelization by cement and steel manufacturers. CREDAI also requested the Government for an immediate intervention in regulating the prices of construction raw materials amidst the ongoing pandemic as Indian real estate is one of the worst-hit sectors due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
With a continuous and sudden upsurge due to cartelization in the prices of steel, cement and other raw materials, real estate developers are experiencing an inevitable increase in construction cost and are faced with situation that will create a delay in delivery, stalling of projects in some cases, thereby impacting the homebuyers at large. Builders are facing an uphill task of further convincing the customers of this additional burden.
High prices of cement and steel have been a serious concern and many industry leaders and Ministers have expressed their concern on many public platforms too. Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, V K Singh warned cement companies against cartelization at an industry event in September 2020.
Nitin Gadkari, Minister for MSMEs and Road Transport and Highway, had also cautioned steel and cement manufacturers for the irrational upsurge in prices and has raised this issue even with the PM.
Pandemic struck Real Estate industry has been hit the most with exponential increase in prices of raw materials.
“The real estate sector has been working on wafer thin margins and is battling unsold inventory on one hand and unfinished projects due to lack of funds on the other. With a stagnant demand, developers have not increased the prices and are selling projects at affordable rates. Indian real estate sector plays an important role in strengthening the economy. Besides employing more than 40 Million workers the sector also is a key partner in many Central Government schemes like Affordable Housing, Housing for All by 2022 and supports more than 250 ancillary industries. But the sector feels ignored because of lack of support from the Government on various issues. There is an urgent need to control the spiraling cement, steel & other raw material prices and I urge the Government to take necessary steps at the earliest” said Jaxay Shah, Chairman, CREDAI
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