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CHENNAI: Construction industry sources say the near-complete shutdown underway in Tamil Nadu will delay the delivery of apartments to homebuyers in and around Chennai by at least two months. They say a large number of guest workers and builders from other states and regions in Tamil Nadu have already left for their places of origin, and the movement of building materials from other states has also stopped. “Of the three guest workers in the construction sector, 1.5 lakhs left Chennai and the suburbs last week. From now on, only concrete works can be done and there is no place for carpentry and painting as there are no materials available.” He indicated that construction is now taking place at around 25%. Only from housing projects, adding that even those construction sites are recovering from available stocks. In Chennai and adjacent areas there are around 3,375 residential projects with units ranging from 8 to several blocks in various stages of construction. Stakeholders in the construction sector say the industry is facing a crisis similar to the one that prevailed during the full lockdown in 2020. Since the government shutdown protocol at TN only allows construction on site, materials such as bricks, cement and sand can only be sourced locally. The head of the Tamil Nadu branch, Suresh Creation of the Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), said the transportation of materials, including locks and tiles from the northern states to neighboring Karnataka, was halted during the lockdown. While the locks are sourced from Delhi and the tiles are sourced from Gujarat. These factors have affected the scheduled completion dates of housing projects. This will delay the delivery of apartments by two months to homebuyers, Creation said. The President of the Civil Engineers Association of Chennai S. Jagadisan said that adequate manpower is also not available in the brick industries. “It could lead to a shortage of building materials that can be sourced locally. The construction sector was already facing a similar situation to a complete shutdown last year. Also Read: SC strikes down West Bengal’s law on regulating real estate