Rain fury, high input costs push Punjab brick prices to new high

"With the elections due in the state in 2027, the government is likely to release more development grants, meaning more construction activity. Therefore, the rates will not come down now,” said Pankaj Chopra, who owns three brick kilns in Amritsar and Bhikhiwind. “As the winter is approaching, we will have to halt manufacturing due to the weather constraints. From December 15 to the March first week, there will be no production. There is no option but to keep the prices high to make both ends meet," he added.

The poor and the lower middle class will be mainly impacted, as the brick rates will add to the already high construction cost.

In 2019, the market rate was around Rs 5,100-5,200 per 1,000 bricks and the majority of brick kiln owners were asked time and again to adopt new technologies to ensure minimal air pollution.

In addition, the Commission for Air Quality Management, under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, had in June 2025 mandated the use of paddy straw-based biomass pellets in the brick kilns located in Punjab and non-NCR districts of Haryana as part of its air pollution control strategy.

Brick kiln association members said despite technical constraints in using pellets in the traditional brick kilns, owners were adopting newer ways. “This shift adds to input costs and already the coal and sand prices are up, adding to minimal margins even at Rs 8,000,” they say.

The price rise has come as a double whammy for the real estate industry, which is yet to come to terms with the recent steep hike in development charges announced by the Punjab Local Bodies Department. These charges, which were unchanged since 2017, have now increased from 150 per cent to 260 per cent.

The revised fee structure, which includes external development charges, change of land use fee, licence fee and other mandatory levies, stems from a six-month-old Housing and Urban Development Department notification.