The PCC rate per cubic meter for 1:4:8 concrete (the M7.5 bed under footings), with material and labour, is Rs 6,537.29 in Puducherry’s Schedule of Rates 2024-25 (item 4.1.8, in force from 14 August 2024). The same book prices 1:3:6 at Rs 7,006.47 and 1:2:4 at Rs 7,608.37. All three exclude shuttering and GST. That is about Rs 185 to 215 a cubic foot. Labour alone runs from Rs 555 a cubic metre in Haryana’s schedule to Rs 1,616 in Maharashtra’s, which also counts formwork. These are official estimating rates, so expect a local quote to move with cement, aggregate and wages in your district.

The excavator has left the footing pits clean and level. The next line on the bill of quantities is the plain cement concrete bed that every footing sits on, and it is priced per cubic metre just like the digging was. If you priced the pits from our guide to the excavation rate per cubic meter, this is the same exercise one step further down the BOQ.

Four rate books are in use in 2026 and they disagree by almost three times for the same 1:4:8 mix. Knowing what each one includes is how you read a PCC quote correctly.

PCC rate per cubic meter in the state schedules

Each figure is a per-cubic-metre rate with material and labour, as printed. The per-cubic-feet figure in brackets is our conversion (divide by 35.315).

Schedule (date) 1:4:8 (M7.5) 1:3:6 (M10) 1:2:4 (M15) What the rate covers
Puducherry PSR 2024-25 (from 14 Aug 2024) Rs 6,537.29, item 4.1.8 (Rs 185/cft) Rs 7,006.47, item 4.1.5 (Rs 198/cft) Rs 7,608.37, item 4.1.3 (Rs 215/cft) Up to plinth, excluding centering and shuttering
Maharashtra SSR 2022-23 (from 25 Jul 2022) No item M-10: Rs 5,830, item 24.01 (Rs 165/cft) M-15: Rs 6,359, item 24.04 (Rs 180/cft) Includes steel centering, formwork, mixer, bailing water, curing; excludes GST
Haryana HSR 2026 report (HSR 2021 rates) Rs 2,735, item 6.1.6 (Rs 77/cft) Rs 3,260, item 6.1.4 (Rs 92/cft) Rs 3,892, item 6.1.2 (Rs 110/cft) Excluding centering and shuttering
Chhattisgarh Building SOR (10 Jun 2026) Rs 2,260, item 3.1.2 (Rs 64/cft) Rs 2,525, item 3.1.3 (Rs 72/cft) Rs 3,019, item 3.1.4 (Rs 85/cft) Excluding formwork; cement base dated 1 Jan 2015

Puducherry’s book follows the CPWD item numbering and carries the newest prices of the four. It is listed on the Puducherry PWD schedule of rates page. Maharashtra’s general notes say its completed rates already carry 10% for overheads and 10% for the contractor’s profit, so the M-10 and M-15 figures sit closest to a contractor’s quote. The mix shorthand, and why PCC goes under a footing at all, are explained in the guide to PCC vs RCC.

PCC labour rate per cubic meter (without material)

When a contractor quotes “labour only”, you buy the cement, sand and aggregate and pay for mixing, placing, compacting and curing. Haryana’s schedule prints that labour share as a separate column. In the 2026 web report it is Rs 555 a cubic metre for 1:4:8, Rs 720 for 1:3:6 and Rs 770 for 1:2:4, which is only about 20 to 22% of each completed rate. Those figures rest on Haryana’s minimum wages from September 2020, when a first-class mason was paid Rs 458 a day.

Maharashtra’s labour column is wider in scope and newer: Rs 1,616 a cubic metre for both M-10 and M-15, which includes formwork and curing. That is 28% of the M-10 rate. Wages have moved past both books: Kerala PWD’s October to December 2026 market list pays an average mason Rs 1,100 a day in Ernakulam (Aluva).

What goes into one cubic metre of PCC

Haryana’s HSR 2021, approved on 31 March 2021, carries a chapter titled “Quantity of Materials” that lists what its rate analysis allows for each concrete item. These quantities do not change with the town or the year. Only the prices do.

Mix (HSR 2021 item) Cement Stone aggregate Coarse sand
1:4:8, 40 mm (19.1.6) 0.17 tonne (3.4 bags) 0.65 cum 40 mm + 0.24 cum 20 mm 0.47 cum
1:3:6, 40 mm (19.1.5) 0.22 tonne (4.4 bags) 0.65 cum 40 mm + 0.24 cum 20 mm 0.47 cum
1:3:6, 20 mm (19.1.4) 0.22 tonne (4.4 bags) 0.70 cum 20 mm + 0.24 cum 10 mm 0.47 cum
1:2:4, 20 mm (19.1.2) 0.32 tonne (6.4 bags) 0.67 cum 20 mm + 0.22 cum 10 mm 0.445 cum

Bags are 50 kg each. For 40 mm stone, 1:3:6 and 1:4:8 differ only in cement. Design-mix figures are close: Maharashtra’s Water Resources Common SOR 2023-24 allows 4.40 bags of cement a cubic metre for M-10 and 5.64 bags for M-15, both with 20 mm aggregate.

A worked build-up: 1:4:8 PCC at October 2026 prices

To price your own job, multiply the quantities above by your local rates. Here they are priced at Kerala PWD’s market rate list for Ernakulam (Aluva), October to December 2026: OPC-43 cement Rs 7,000 a tonne, coarse sand Rs 2,500 a cum, stone aggregate Rs 2,300 a cum, a 0.25 to 0.40 cum concrete mixer Rs 3,000 a day and a needle vibrator Rs 1,300 a day.

Line Working Rs per cum
Cement 0.17 t x Rs 7,000 1,190
Aggregate 40 mm and 20 mm 0.89 cum x Rs 2,300 2,047
Coarse sand 0.47 cum x Rs 2,500 1,175
Mixer and vibrator hire Rs 4,300 a day over 15 cum (our assumption) 287
Labour, mixing to curing Maharashtra SSR labour column 1,616
Overheads 10% and profit 10% on Rs 6,315 1,263
Total, before GST about Rs 215 a cubic foot 7,578

Materials alone come to Rs 4,412 a cubic metre, close to 60% of the total. Cement separates the mixes: 1:2:4 takes almost twice the cement of 1:4:8. Aggregate and sand vary with the quarry lead. The mixer line depends on your daily pour: at 10 cum a day the same hire costs Rs 430 a cum, at 30 cum about Rs 143.

Where the mixer hire line comes from

Every schedule above assumes machine mixing. Puducherry’s book prices a 0.25 to 0.40 cum mixer at Rs 2,100 a day and a needle vibrator at Rs 450 a day, and Maharashtra’s items name a reversible drum mixer or batch plant. On a site with scattered footing beds, the cost per cubic metre depends on how fast one batch follows the next. A self-loading mixer such as the AJAX ARGO 2000 or the CONMAT CSLM 2800 loads and mixes its own batch and drives it from pit to pit, which cuts the helpers on the barrow line. If you pour PCC every week, compare concrete mixer models and prices against what you spend on hire in a year.

What else moves the price

Shuttering is the biggest item left out. Three of the four books price PCC without it, so add edge formwork from the shuttering rate per sqm guide where the bed needs sides. Water in the pit costs extra: Chhattisgarh’s 2026 book adds Rs 222 a cubic metre for laying in or under water.

The age of the book matters most when comparing quotes. Chhattisgarh’s 10 June 2026 schedule still states its cement base “as on date 01.01.2015” at Rs 4,845 a tonne, and Haryana’s 2026 report repeats its 2021 concrete rates unchanged. Use such low rates to see the labour and material split, never as a 2026 price. Current cement prices are tracked in cement price in India.

The bottom line

On the newest official book, Puducherry’s 2024-25 schedule, PCC costs Rs 6,537.29 to Rs 7,608.37 a cubic metre from 1:4:8 to 1:2:4, about Rs 185 to 215 a cubic foot, before shuttering and GST. Built up at October 2026 Ernakulam prices, 1:4:8 lands near Rs 7,578. Ask every contractor for the mix, the aggregate size and whether shuttering, dewatering and curing are in the rate, then compare per cubic metre on the same basis. If you run a civil contracting business, find foundation and building works to bid for on tenders and opportunities.

Schedule of rates figures are government estimating rates for the states and dates shown, exclude GST, and are not a market quote. The worked build-up uses our stated assumptions. Rates, schemes, specifications and prices change — confirm current terms with the OEM, dealer, bank or insurer, or the issuing department, before deciding. DesiMachines is not liable for decisions taken on information that may have changed after publication.