- Plea to intervene on inflationary tendencies of building material costs
- Appeal to Union Housing Ministry
The cost of construction has increased in the country. But, on the other the war between Russia and Ukraine have pushed the prices of the building materials further. As a result, the prices of steel and cement have been going through the roof, which deal a crippling blow to the real estate sector. In this backdrop, the pan India body of the realtors called the National Real Estate Development Corporation (NAREDCO) has appealed to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to take necessary steps to rein in the real estate prices. The NAREDCO sought its intervention in bringing the prices of steel and cement.
In a letter addressed to the Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, the NAREDCO said that the war pushed the raw material prices exorbitantly. As a result, the real estate project costs are also on the rise with no change in the sale price of the units, putting burden on t he realtors. Therefore, it urged the government to slash down the import duty on steel from 7.5 per cent to zero per cent for a period of two years and prohibit export of steel to other countries for the same period. It wanted the government to regulate prices of steel and cement till the supply of steel and cement becomes normal in domestic markets.
For the purpose, it urged the ministry to impose the lower slab of the GST on the two items. The real estate sector, which has recovered from Covid-19, is facing upheavals because of the steep rise in prices of raw materials. A bag of cement that cost Rs 250 in January sells at Rs 360, registering a hike in price to the tune of 45 per cent. Ton steel cost Rs 39,000 two years ago. Its price rose by 131 per cent to sell at Rs 90,000 a ton, the NAREDCO said expressing concern over the price hike. Therefore, it sought the government to intervene in the matter.
