Building expo in Tiruchi

TIRUCHI

Rising material costs have forced new homeowners to downsize their dreams to fit the budget, said construction industry players at the ongoing Buildrock-2021 exhibition in the city.

“Prices of building materials like steel and cement have risen by at least 60% in the pandemic, which has pushed up the cost of labour. A house that could be constructed for ₹ 1800 per sq ft now costs ₹2200 per sq ft. Naturally people have started cutting corners to stay within the budget, even if they desire something better,” Jayant Kumar M. Mehta, chairman of Buildrock – 2021 said.

Organised by the Builders’ Association of India, the three-day expo was inaugurated at Kalaignar Arivalayam on Friday by Minister of Municipal Administration, K. N. Nehru, and features stalls from 31 exhibitors.

“Despite inflation and COVID-19, which forced us to cancel the annual exhibition in 2020, there is a significant interest from the public this year, with nearly 5,000 footfalls a day. We have tried to bring a wide range of home-related services under one roof, for easy review by customers,” he said.

One silver lining of the price turbulence was a growing acceptance of new and eco-friendly materials by homeowners, said A. Karthikeyan, engineer and expo coordinator. “There is a greater awareness about fly-ash bricks, for instance, and people are more willing to try them out for construction than before. Though good quality chamber bricks are expensive, I feel this trend will help us to reduce quarrying and protect the environment,” he said.

Stalls at the exhibition cover building equipment, paints, electrical fittings, hardware and interior decoration, among others. Home finance and real estate promoters are also part of the industrial showcase.

Buildrock-2021 is open to the public from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., and scheduled to end on Sunday.

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