Builders decide not to buy cement till July 20

HYDERABAD: Real estate builders and developers in the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have unanimously decided to extend the cement purchasing holiday till July 20.

This, they say, is in protest against the inordinate hike in the prices of cement bags from July 2, which has already impacted construction of 20,000-odd independent houses and flats in the state capital alone, apart from government housing and infrastructure schemes.

They have demanded government's intervention against formation of a cartel by cement manufacturers and an immediate rollback of prices keeping in mind the larger interest of public housing and infrastructure development projects.

In this regard, the joint action committee representatives of builders in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, represented by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI) along with all its chapters in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in association with Andhra Pradesh Real Estate Developers' Association (APREDA), Telangana Real Estate Developers' Association (TREDA), Builders Association of India (BAI) and Telangana Builders Federation representing a 2,000- strong developer community along with 1,000 small, medium and mega contractors have already met the chief ministers of both states.

C Shekar Reddy, national president of CREDAI and chairman of the JAC, has pointed out that there exists no explanation for the hike in the prices of cement. The price of a cement bag was raised from Rs 200 to Rs 300 on July 2, he said and noted that many builders had stopped construction activities, thus indirectly impacting 1.20 crore workers.

'For the last few days we have been selling products at rock-bottom prices. Compare that with the surplus production of cement in the region and the low freight charges, and there is no way such an increase is acceptable,' said Reddy.

According to him, the housing shortfall in the country stands at present at 18.78 million dwellings, 95 per cent of whom are economic and weaker sections, and is expected to reach 60 million by 2020. 'Cement and steel are the backbone of the economy.

Why can they not maintain uniform prices throughout the year or why can government not interfere in the pricing? In such a scenario, how does our government plan to achieve the housing target?' he asked.

The JAC members, who held a meeting here on Monday, asked cement manufacturers to avoid cartel-forming. 'We have raised our concern with the two chief ministers who instructed their senior officials to look into the matter.

We again call upon cement manufacturers not to form a cartel, to roll back the steep 50 pc hike and effect a justifiable increase in prices. Such unreasonable increase.

If we don't get a favourable response from the cement manufacturers this week, we will take more drastic measures which might have a far- reaching impact on the overall economy and employment in both the states,' the JAC members said.