The vdf flooring rate per sq ft in state rate books is about Rs 7 to 12 for the vacuum dewatering and trowelling work alone (Telangana Rs 76 a sqm, Maharashtra Rs 126 a sqm) and about Rs 68 to 144 for a 150 mm floor with M25 concrete (Haryana HSR 2023 and Puducherry 2024-25), all before GST. Each per sq ft figure is our conversion: per sqm divided by 10.764. Hardener, joint sealing, reinforcement and the sub-base are usually extra. With 18% GST the 150 mm band becomes about Rs 80 to 170 a sq ft (indicative, derived, as of Nov 2026).

The transit mixers start arriving at six in the morning, and by nine one bay of the warehouse floor is down, screeded and covered in black suction mats while the vacuum pump drones beside it. What you pay for that floor depends on whose rate you use. On the state schedules, a 150 mm vacuum dewatered (VDF, or “trimix”) floor costs about Rs 68 to 144 a sq ft with M25 concrete before GST, and the dewatering and trowelling work on its own comes to about Rs 7 to 12 a sq ft.

Those numbers come from four public rate books, quoted below with item numbers and dates so you can check a quote line by line.

VDF flooring rate per sq ft in the state rate books

Rate books price VDF in one of two ways: per square metre of finished floor, or per cubic metre of concrete pavement. The per cubic metre items have to be multiplied by the slab thickness first. The table shows each item as printed, then our conversion.

Rate book and item What it covers Rate as printed Per sq ft (our conversion)
Telangana CSR 2025-26 (from 1 Jun 2025), Part IV item 25(b) Vacuum dewatering, power floating, screed vibration, mechanical trowelling, machine hire, fuel and labour. No concrete Rs 76 a sqm Rs 7.06
Maharashtra SSR 2022-23 (from 25 Jul 2022), item 54.15 Finishing slabs up to 225 mm with tremix: screed vibrator, vacuum dewatering, floater and trowel. No concrete Rs 126 a sqm Rs 11.71
Maharashtra SSR 2022-23, item 33.30 M20 tremix floor, 100 mm, with 4 mm by 20 mm grooves filled with bitumen Rs 796 a sqm Rs 73.95
Maharashtra SSR 2022-23, item 33.31 M30 tremix floor, 200 mm, same grooving Rs 1,464 a sqm Rs 136.01
Haryana HSR 2023 (premium date 1 Apr 2023), item 17.73 M25 vacuum concrete pavement, batch mixer, vibrators, vacuum pump, power floater Rs 4,873 a cum Rs 67.91 at 150 mm
Haryana HSR 2023, item 17.72 Same, M30 Rs 4,932 a cum Rs 68.73 at 150 mm
Puducherry PSR 2024-25 (from 14 Aug 2024), item 16.75 M25 pavement with ready-mixed concrete, screed board vibrator, vacuum dewatering, float and broom finish. Shuttering extra Rs 10,329.70 a cum Rs 143.95 at 150 mm

The working for a per cubic metre item: Rs 4,873 x 0.15 m = Rs 730.95 a sqm, divided by 10.764 = Rs 67.91 a sq ft. At 100 mm the same Haryana item is Rs 45.27 a sq ft, and at 200 mm it is Rs 90.54. Maharashtra’s general notes say its rates exclude GST and already carry 10% for overheads and 10% for profit. Puducherry’s schedule says its material rates exclude GST, so its completed item is read the same way. The Maharashtra Public Works Department’s SSR 2022-23 was still the only civil schedule on its list when we checked on 8 November 2026.

Why the books are so far apart

Puducherry’s item buys ready-mixed concrete from a batching plant, while Haryana’s item assumes a batch mixer on site. That is a large part of the gap. The trade-off between the two is set out in RMC vs site mix. Age matters too. Haryana’s HSR 2021 printed Rs 5,457 a cubic metre for the same M25 item, and its preface says those finished rates carried a 12% GST effect. The HSR 2023 figure is almost exactly 12% lower. Read Haryana’s 2023 number as a pre-tax estimating rate, not a 2026 market price.

Trimix flooring rate without material: the labour and machine share

When a contractor quotes “VDF labour only”, you supply the concrete and pay for the crew and machines. Telangana’s Rs 76 a sqm and Maharashtra’s Rs 126 a sqm are that share. Telangana prices plain mechanical trowelling, with no dewatering, at Rs 41 a sqm (Rs 3.81 a sq ft).

Haryana splits its pavement items into columns. For M25, the cubic metre rate is Rs 220 labour, Rs 120 machinery and Rs 4,534 material. Labour and machinery are only 7% of the total: Rs 51 a sqm at 150 mm, or Rs 4.74 a sq ft, covering placing as well as finishing. The rest is cement, sand and stone, so the rate with material follows the concrete price.

The machine set behind the rate

Every VDF item names the same sequence. A screed vibrator levels and compacts the concrete. Suction mats go on, and a vacuum pump draws out the excess water; Telangana’s item specifies 100% air-tight mats and a pressure of 0.7 to 0.8 atmosphere. A power floater and then a power trowel close and finish the surface. Once the slab can take it, a joint cutter saws the grooves. Haryana’s HSR 2023 machinery chapter prices each piece by hire:

Machine (HSR 2023 code) Hire rate
Vacuum pump with mat and power floater (PM142) Rs 2,679 a day
Screed vibrator (PM140) Rs 714 a day
Plate vibrator (PM141) Rs 1,072 a day
Joint cutting machine, 2 to 3 blades, rigid pavement (PM126) Rs 375 an hour

Tamil Nadu’s 2025-26 schedule prices a surface vibrator, fuel included, at Rs 1,000 a day. This is why VDF crews chase area: at Telangana’s Rs 76 a sqm, about 35 sqm only covers one day of Haryana’s vacuum-set hire (Rs 2,679 / Rs 76).

Concrete supply sets the pace. A warehouse pour is usually fed by truck mixers such as the Eicher Pro 6028TM. Where trucks cannot back up to the bay, a line pump such as the Putzmeister Ultima BSA 1407 D takes the concrete in. On smaller jobs without a nearby plant, a self-loading mixer like the Fiori DBS 4300 batches on site. If supply for these floors is what you want to sell, the economics are in how an RMC plant business makes money.

What is extra over the VDF rate

  • Floor hardener: Haryana item 10.15 adds Rs 171 a sqm (Rs 15.89 a sq ft) for 3.5 kg a sqm of hardener on a trimix M25 floor.
  • Polythene under the slab: Haryana item 10.17 pays Rs 22 a sqm for a sheet under M-25 concrete in roads and parking.
  • Joint sealing: Maharashtra’s road item 5.22 fills grooves with bitumen at Rs 8,446 a cum; item 5.22b uses polysulphide sealant and a backer rod at Rs 8,636 a cum.
  • Reinforcement or fibre: Maharashtra’s road items say “excluding reinforcement”. Price steel mesh or fibre separately.
  • Sub-base: the PCC or granular layer below is a separate item, priced item by item in PCC rate per cubic meter.
  • GST: every book above prices before tax.

Worked example: a 10,000 sq ft warehouse floor

Take a 150 mm M25 VDF floor with hardener and polythene, priced on Haryana’s HSR 2023 items. The area is 10,000 / 10.764 = 929.02 sqm, and the concrete is 929.02 x 0.15 = 139.35 cubic metres.

Line Working Rs
VDF concrete, item 17.73 139.35 cum x Rs 4,873 6,79,069
Hardener, item 10.15 929.02 sqm x Rs 171 1,58,863
Polythene, item 10.17 929.02 sqm x Rs 22 20,438
Total before GST Rs 85.84 a sq ft 8,58,370
With 18% GST (indicative) Rs 101.29 a sq ft 10,12,877

Swap in Puducherry’s ready-mix rate for the concrete line and the same floor comes to about Rs 162 a sq ft before GST, or Rs 191 with it. That gap is site-mixed concrete in an older book against plant concrete in a newer one. Joint cutting and sealing are not in either sum.

Ask every bidder for the grade, thickness, concrete source and whether hardener, joints and GST are in the rate. The same sqm-to-sq-ft check works for the walls, as in the plaster rate per sq ft.

If you run a flooring or concrete crew, find warehouse and parking 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; per sq ft figures and the worked example are our arithmetic. Rates, specifications and prices change — confirm current terms with the issuing department, your contractor or the equipment dealer before deciding.