In the wake of continuously surging raw material costs, primarily steel and cement, real estate developers have announced that property prices will increase by Rs 400-500 per sq ft in Gujarat. The declaration was made by Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) Gujarat members and will be applicable across nearly 40 city chapters of the developers' body. The decision was taken during the board meeting of CREDAI Gujarat conducted in Palanpur on Tuesday. Raw material costs have been the bane of real estate developers for a while currently. Ajay Patel, Chairman of CREDAI, Gujarat, told the media that prices of steel and cement have dramatically improved due to which the profitability of developers is being eroded greatly. Patel added that most developers have absorbed costs but with the continued increase in costs, input costs are growing.Thus, costs of properties will increase effective April 2, be it commercial or residential, across Gujarat. Developers recommend that besides steel and cement, costs of hardware, glass panels and other raw materials have also surged substantially. While steel costs have reached Rs 80,500 per tonne, cement costs Rs 430 per bag, adding to the prices of construction in ongoing projects. Steel costs hovered about Rs 60,000 per tonne in December-end whereas cement cost Rs 325 per bag in the similar period. Increasing steel and cement prices have additionally influenced construction contractors. Gujarat Contractors' Association (GCA) had a long-pending demand of the government to revise project prices in line with rising costs. Heeding their representation, the state government recently permitted an increase in costs of properties up to a ceiling of 5% following the increase in raw material costs. Image Source Also read: Steel, cement costs jumps up by 35% over last two months