Developers seek extension of project timelines amid West Asia conflict

Credai seeks a blanket three to six-month extension for project deadlines, citing disruptions in material supplies and labour availability

Amid the West Asia conflict, developers have urged the Union Housing Ministry to direct state real estate regulatory authorities (RERAs) to grant a three to six-month blanket extension for project completion timelines.

 

In its letter to Union Housing Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, developers’ body Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (Credai) noted that the current industry situation must be recognised as a force majeure event for the real estate sector.

 

“The sector continues to face significant disruptions in construction material supply chains and labour availability due to circumstances beyond its control,” Credai said.

 

This comes at a time when India’s luxury housing market is seeing an impact due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, with construction deadlines potentially getting pushed further due to delayed imports.

 

Industry executives told Business Standard that approximately 35 to 40 per cent of under-construction luxury residential projects across India’s top six metros are navigating some degree of imported material procurement adjustment.

 

“The ongoing volatility in energy supplies has impacted production across key manufacturing clusters, such as the Morbi ceramic hub in Gujarat, which accounts for a substantial share of India’s tile production,” Credai said in its letter.

 

It added that while production has gradually resumed, the impact continues to persist in the form of elevated input and logistics costs, leading to an increase in tile prices.

 

The situation has also affected the broader building materials ecosystem such as cement, steel, aluminium, and polymers, which continue to face constraints due to disrupted supply chains and energy-related uncertainties.

 

A recent Anarock report stated that with aluminium plants in Bahrain and Qatar either partially or fully down, the price of aluminium — an important construction input — hovered at around ₹3.5 lakh per tonne at the start of the conflict.

 

At the same time, shortages of essential fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) have triggered reverse migration of labour from urban centres, compounding workforce shortages at project sites.

 

The developers’ body added that providing necessary policy support such as timeline extensions will mitigate the adverse impact on project execution and sectoral stability.