Gujarat: Real-estate developers go on strike over cement, steel price hike
Ahmedabad: Real-estate developers and contractors in Gujarat on Friday joined the day-long nationwide strike to protest against the "exorbitant hike" in prices of cement and steel.
Work has been stalled at 20,000 construction sites across the state, hitting 20 lakh daily-wage labourers, said Arvind Patel, chairman of Gujarat Contractors Association.
All major organisations associated with the real estate and construction sector, including Gujarat chapters of Builders' Association of India and Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) have joined the nationwide strike.
There is an average 40 per cent hike in the prices of all key construction materials, mainly cement and steel, Patel said, adding that diesel and bitumen prices have also risen significantly.
"The hike in prices will ultimately affect customers, who will have to shell out more money, as the construction costs will also shoot up," he said.
The rise in cost of materials will adversely affect the nation's growth trajectory, he said.
"Steel and cement are some of the major construction materials used in all segments of the industry. Since contractors mostly work on fixed rate-fixed time basis, the frequent rise in prices will make it difficult for them to survive," Patel said.
Meanwhile, CREDAI Gujarat president Ashish Patel said although there are five cement manufacturing plants in Gujarat, prices here are higher than in Bihar, which does not have a single plant.
"In Gujarat, the price of one cement bag is around Rs 300, while in Bihar it costs Rs 240. Such a high price increases the construction cost. This open loot must end. The government should form a regulatory body to govern steel and cement prices," he said.
As against the ideal price of Rs 37,000 per tonne, steel prices have skyrocketed to Rs 60,000 a few months ago.
"After we made a representation, it came down to around Rs 50,000 per tonne recently. However, this rate is still high. Ideally, it should be around Rs 37,000. Though these companies were fined in the past for such trade practices, nothing has changed," Patel said.
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Karnataka Examinations Authority publishes syllabus for CET 2025
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Examinations Authority has released the syllabus for the Common Entrance Test (CET) to be conducted in 2025 for admission to professional courses including engineering, on its website https://cetonline.karnataka.gov.in/kea/.
Executive Director of KEA, H. Prasanna on Saturday issued a notification, advising students to use the syllabus for Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology from both First and Second PUC as outlined on the portal.
"This syllabus has been prepared based on the NCRTC syllabus and the textbooks published by the School Education, PUE Department," the announcement read. Furthermore, H. Prasanna explained that it has also been reviewed by subject experts from PU colleges.
