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Dhaval Ajmera

Developers were worried. It was bad having to tackle the economic crunch. Then they had a truckers’ strike to add to their woes. The nationwide transporters’ strike had developers anxious who feared a delay in projects due to lack of materials. Most developers told Construction Week that while the strike had not affected business, a prolongation could have had undesirable consequences.

It is well known that builders are averse to stocking up due to space constraints and financial issues.

Mahesh Mudda, CEO of New Consolidated Construction Co. Ltd, and chairman of Builders’ Association of India, Mumbai Chapter, said: “The strike would have affected the construction industry adversely. We were already seeing delays of a week or more and this could have extended to a month if the strike did not end soon.”

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Another developer, Dhaval Ajmera, director of Ajmera Realty & Infra India Ltd, said: “Supplies were diminishing but not to an alarming level.” Bangalore developers, on the other hand, were unconcerned. The slump in demand is encouraging builders to complete projects at their own pace. “There are few new projects coming up currently. The ongoing projects are on schedule because developers had saved up on stocks. The strike barely affected us because of a conflict of interest of the Unions. Also some trucks were plying at night,” said one developer.

India’s eastern region was definitely feeling the pinch. “Intra-state trucks were plying but interstate vehicles were on strike,” said Sushanta Kumar Basu, director at Centex (India) Engineers Pvt. Ltd. “In a scenario of short supply, prices would have gone up.”