Builders from Kerala are exploring new ways to tackle rising costs. The builders over here are looking at the option of opening up dealerships. Though poor in resource and industrially backward, the state backed by wads of expatriate currency has a thriving construction and building industry.
S Raghuchandran Nair, Secretary General of the State Chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI), said that cement manufacturers have been crying themselves hoarse over ‘imaginary losses’ in business. The losses they are referring to, if at all, were those made on profit and not on their business, he argues. The state has hardly any land left to build new industry, much less cement plants; it was therefore left to the builders to come up with what they described as the next best alternative – pool available resources together and set up own cement dealerships. Thus, if the Builders Association of India (BAI) could think of setting up cement plants, its Kerala fraternity is ready with a blueprint for acquiring dealerships. R Rajesh, Chairman of the Thiruvananthapuram Centre of the BAI, however, said that the dealerships are still at a proposal stage. The plan is to contract purchases in bulk from small-scale manufacturers and make available cement at reduced prices.