You the home buyer unwittingly put a few lakh rupees of your life's savings or bank loan into the big bad Bengal syndicate monster's mouth the moment you buy a property in Calcutta.

When Ranadeep Ghosh decided to buy a home in the city last year after almost a decade of living as a paying guest, the 42-year-old thought he had timed his big purchase to perfection. Property prices were either falling or stagnating across the country and every real estate consultant worth his brokerage had only one advice: buy.

Ranadeep hadn't accounted for the mystery of Calcutta realty prices creeping up even as Bengal's stock continued to dip in the eyes of big-ticket industry. He was forced to stretch his budget by three lakhs for his two-bedroom apartment, little knowing that the builders of the property he was buying in Paikpara had passed on a burden heaped on them by the local syndicates.

This litany of injustice is true of almost every property purchase in town, whether a buyer is aiming for a fully-loaded highrise in Ballygunge or a bare-bones standalone building in a Barasat lane.

Developers across the board confided to Metro that when Trinamul-backed syndicates prey on them, it immediately adds between Rs 200 and Rs 300 per square foot to the price of a property at the bottom range. In other words, you automatically end up paying between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh more for a standard 1,000sq ft apartment.

Civil work, primarily the superstructure, costs around Rs 1,000 per sq ft in a standard project. "But we spend at least 20 to 30 per cent extra on procuring building materials such as sand, stone chips, bricks and ready mix concrete because the suppliers are syndicates whom we dare not refuse. We have little option but to pass on the additional cost to the buyer," said a developer who has built multiple residential, commercial and retail properties in Calcutta.

He described the syndicate menace as "a cancer" that threatens to cripple the real estate industry.

Sumon Roy, an IT consultant who reluctantly shifted to Calcutta from Gurgaon because his Burdwan-based parents have not been keeping well, has been scouting for "a reasonably priced apartment in a complex" close to New Town for the past six months and still hasn't found one to suit his budget.

"I am surprised that a decent apartment isn't available in the range of Rs 3,000-Rs 3,500 per sq ft in this city. Even today, you can buy a property in Greater Noida, which is far better developed, with my kind of budget. I can't believe that demand is so high in Calcutta that prices continue to rise," he said.

A buoyant economy usually leads to a spike in demand for real estate, which translates into rising prices. Bengal is a conundrum because the state hasn't been able to attract any big-ticket industry in the past five years to create largescale employment and, consequently, buying power and demand.

"Inflation and increased land cost contribute to property prices increasing. In Bengal, it is now evident that there are more factors, and not of the encouraging kind," said a professor of economics.

A consortium of developers visiting New Alipore to take over a plot on which there used to be an industrial unit was confronted by a goon gang that arrived at the site on three Matadors. "They didn't let the developers deploy guards or even put up a signboard, let alone start construction. The matter had to be settled later with a payment of Rs 3 crore," a source privy to the deal said.

Metro spoke to a dozen-odd reputable developers, all of whom blamed syndicates for their inability to price properties reasonably. Rajarhat, especially Action Area III, New Alipore, Bhowanipore and Tollygunge are some of the trouble spots, they said.

"Until some years ago, syndicates would restrict themselves to demanding contracts for supply of sand, stone chips and bricks. But they have spread their tentacles to all phases of construction, demanding and getting a stake in the supply of ready mix concrete, marble, woodwork, plaster and even paint. Sometimes they want the entire contract. Basically, the span of the extortion racket run by syndicates is going up and so are costs. The biggest problem is that they want to make a fast buck. So, quality is the casualty," rued a builder.

Metro had on Thursday highlighted how mega infrastructure projects are being compromised by syndicate greed. The collapse of the Vivekananda Road flyover is being blamed partly on syndicates supplying unskilled workers and materials of inferior quality to the project through sub-contracts.

It is much the same in realty. Syndicates often mix lower-grade materials with those of the requisitioned quality, causing early cracks in concrete, seepage and damp patches on walls. If sand and stone chips are not of the recommended grade, it will soon tell on the quality of concrete, a civil engineer. "To err on the side of caution, I generally tell my project managers to increase the proportion of cement in the mix. But cost goes up because of that," said a realtor, demanding that the state government fix the prices of raw materials zone-wise.

"If something goes wrong with the building, the developer will be hauled up. But what about the contractor and the suppliers? Why is there no accountability for them," he demanded.

The new Real Estate Regulation Bill requires builders to fix defects in buildings up to five years after handover. "Unless we are in control of the quality of materials supplied and the construction process, this may be difficult to adhere to," the realtor said.

Many in the real estate fraternity choose to pay "peace money" to syndicates to ensure that quality isn't compromised and the project deadline isn't affected by disruptions.

Real estate firms eyeing projects beyond Bengal say the syndicate culture has made the state the butt of jokes even in the "traditional badlands" like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. "Politicians and bureaucrats are asking us to invest there without the fear of syndicates like in Bengal. Just imagine!" said an exasperated developer. "In Bangalore, you will face difficulty in finding suppliers. Here they come in hordes, riding SUVs and brandishing guns. We don't employ them. They employ us."

Syndicates trace their origins to Left rule, but it wasn't a problem as it is now, say realtors. A realtor who has completed several top projects in Calcutta recalled being pursued by "a local dada" who wanted a supply contract many years ago. "I gave him some work after the police intervened. He went on to become my preferred supplier for many other projects. The quality of the materials he supplied was very good and he ensured that my project didn't suffer," he said.

Until five years ago, a leader of the ruling party would step in only to ensure that someone "connected" got the contract. "Then on, it would be business as usual. Now more than one Trinamul chieftain wants to select the contractor, leading to clashes, especially in Rajarhat. Worse, businesses are no longer run as businesses. They are extortion rackets."

Are you a victim of the syndicate racket? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com(Your identity will not berevealed if you wish to remain anonymous)