Supply and lay rates by material
| Material | Supply + lay ₹/sq ft | Thickness | Realistic life | Honest verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceramic tile, 300×300 to 600×600 | ₹85 | 7 – 8 mm | 10 – 15 yrs | Fine in a utility or a rental; chips at the edges |
| Vitrified tile, 600×600 | ₹115 | 9 – 10 mm | 20 yrs+ | The default for good reason; best value per year of service |
| SPC and vinyl plank | ₹150 | 4 – 6 mm | 10 – 15 yrs | The only wood-look floor worth putting near water |
| Laminate wooden | ₹185 | 8 – 12 mm | 8 – 12 yrs | Warmest underfoot at this price; swells if a balcony door leaks |
| Large-format GVT, 800×1600 | ₹195 | 9 mm | 20 yrs+ | Fewer joints, calmer; needs a flat substrate and skilled layers |
| Indian marble | ₹290 | 18 – 20 mm | 30 yrs+ | Cool and durable; stains with turmeric and lime |
| Granite | ₹310 | 18 – 20 mm | 40 yrs+ | Hardest and least forgiving visually; excellent in utility and stairs |
| Engineered wood | ₹395 | 14 – 15 mm | 15 – 25 yrs | Genuinely good, genuinely fragile near wet areas |
| Italian marble | ₹520 | 18 – 20 mm | 30 yrs+ | Beautiful and high maintenance; re-polish every 4–6 years |
Ex-GST. Includes material, adhesive or mortar, laying and basic grouting. Excludes removal, levelling, skirting and any specialist polish. Book-matched slabs, exotic stone and specialist polishing sit above this table, to ₹1,200 per sq ft and beyond.
The lines that are not the floor
| Item | ₹ rate | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Removing existing tile | ₹45 per sq ft | Includes breaking, bagging and debris removal |
| Removing stone on a bonded screed | ₹75 per sq ft | Heavier, slower, more debris |
| Levelling screed | ₹38 per sq ft | Wherever the substrate is out by more than about 10 mm across a room |
| Tile skirting, matching | ₹85 per running foot | Cut from the same tile; the standard detail |
| Stone or wood skirting | ₹160 per running foot | Where a contrast or a taller skirting is wanted |
| Epoxy grout instead of cement | ₹18 per sq ft | Worth specifying in kitchens, bathrooms and any high-traffic joint |
| Anti-skid treatment | ₹22 per sq ft | Bathrooms and entrance zones where the tile is not already rated |
| Marble polishing after laying | ₹35 – 70 per sq ft | Grinding and polishing in situ; required on any stone floor |
Ex-GST. Removal and levelling together frequently add 40–60% to a re-flooring project and they are the items most often missing from a first quote.
The laid price, the removal price and the bit in between
A worked total: re-flooring a 700 sq ft flat
- Material and laying = 700 × ₹115 for 600×600 vitrified = ₹80,500.
- Removing the existing tile = 700 × ₹45 = ₹31,500.
- Levelling screed over 30% of the area = 210 × ₹38 = ₹7,980.
- Skirting = 110 running feet × ₹85 = ₹9,350.
- Subtotal = ₹1,29,330, or about ₹185 per sq ft of floor, all in.
- With 18% GST: ₹1,52,609. The material alone was 62% of the ex-GST figure; the rest is removal, levelling and skirting.
Cost per year of service
The headline rate is a poor way to choose a floor. Dividing the laid cost by the realistic life gives a number that ranks the materials very differently.
| Material | ₹/sq ft laid | Life | ₹ per sq ft per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vitrified tile 600×600 | ₹115 | 20 yrs | ₹5.75 |
| Ceramic tile | ₹85 | 12 yrs | ₹7.08 |
| Granite | ₹310 | 40 yrs | ₹7.75 |
| Large-format GVT | ₹195 | 20 yrs | ₹9.75 |
| Indian marble | ₹290 | 30 yrs | ₹9.67 |
| SPC vinyl | ₹150 | 12 yrs | ₹12.50 |
| Engineered wood | ₹395 | 20 yrs | ₹19.75 |
| Laminate | ₹185 | 9 yrs | ₹20.56 |
| Italian marble | ₹520 | 30 yrs | ₹17.33 plus periodic re-polishing |
A rough ranking rather than a rule. It ignores appearance, comfort underfoot and resale, all of which matter.
A client compared laminate at one eighty-five with vitrified at one fifteen and chose the laminate because it looked warmer. Nine years later she replaced it. The vitrified floor in the flat next door is still there.
Greenbox principal designer
Overlay or rip out
- Laying over an existing floor saves the ₹45 per sq ft removal plus a week of dust, noise and debris charges, which on 700 sq ft is about ₹31,500 and a genuinely unpleasant week.
- It costs you floor-to-ceiling height and door clearance. A 10 mm tile plus 12 mm of adhesive raises the floor 22 mm, which means every door leaf has to come off and be trimmed.
- The existing floor must be sound. Tap it; any hollow tile has to come out regardless, and if more than about a tenth is hollow, remove the lot.
- Never overlay a wet area. Bathrooms, balconies and utility areas need the membrane below, and you cannot lay a membrane over an old floor with a working fall.
- Thresholds become visible. The junction with a room you have not re-floored, and with the entrance lobby, needs a designed transition rather than a trim strip.
- SPC and vinyl are the best overlay materials at 4–6 mm, because they add almost no height.
What this excludes
- 18% GST on the contract value.
- Waterproofing in wet areas, which is a separate specialist item and must precede the floor.
- Underfloor heating, which is rare in India and priced per project where it applies.
- Door trimming and re-hanging where an overlay raises the floor level.
- Furniture removal and storage during the works, which on a full re-flooring is a real cost.
- Alternative accommodation, because a full re-floor makes a flat uninhabitable for one to two weeks.
Choosing by room
Very few homes should use one floor material throughout, and the exceptions are usually driven by a desire for visual continuity rather than by performance. Room by room, this is where each material earns its place.
- Living and dining: large-format vitrified or GVT, or stone if the budget allows. High traffic, visible, and the room where continuity matters most — so this is the one to run through into the passage.
- Bedrooms: anything, and the only place engineered wood or laminate genuinely belongs. Low traffic, dry, and the warmth underfoot is noticed daily.
- Kitchen: vitrified or ceramic with epoxy grout and an anti-skid rating. Never wood, never laminate, and never a very light tile, because oil marks show.
- Bathrooms: small-format vitrified so the fall can be formed, R11 slip rating wet, epoxy grout and a coved junction with the wall.
- Balcony and utility: granite, anti-skid vitrified or a rough-finish porcelain, laid to a fall with a drain. Anything smooth becomes a hazard in the first rain.
- Passage and entrance: the hardest-wearing material in the home, in a mid tone, with a recessed mat well at the door.
Local rates and the tools
Mumbai runs about 15% above these figures and adds society constraints — see flooring cost in Mumbai. To price your own rooms, use the flooring cost calculator or the tiles quantity calculator. For material selection in a humid climate, see how to choose flooring for Mumbai homes.
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
How much does flooring cost per square foot in India?+
Supplied and laid: ₹85 for ceramic tile, ₹115 for 600×600 vitrified, ₹150 for SPC vinyl, ₹185 for laminate, ₹195 for large-format GVT, ₹290 for Indian marble, ₹310 for granite, ₹395 for engineered wood and ₹520 for Italian marble. Removal, levelling and skirting are separate.
What does removing an old floor cost?+
₹45 per sq ft for tile and ₹75 for stone on a bonded screed, including breaking, bagging and debris removal. Levelling screed where the substrate is out by more than about 10 mm adds ₹38 per sq ft. Together these frequently add 40–60% to a re-flooring project and they are the items most often absent from a first quote.
Can I lay a new floor over the existing one?+
Often, and it saves the ₹45 per sq ft removal plus a week of dust and debris. But it raises the floor by around 22 mm with a tile, so every door has to be trimmed; the existing floor must be sound when tapped; and you cannot overlay a wet area, because the waterproofing membrane has to be below the floor. SPC and vinyl at 4–6 mm are the best overlay materials.
Which flooring is the best value?+
Vitrified tile at 600×600, on cost per year of service. At ₹115 per sq ft laid over a twenty-year life it works out at ₹5.75 per sq ft per year, against ₹12.50 for SPC vinyl, ₹19.75 for engineered wood and ₹20.56 for laminate. Granite at ₹7.75 and Indian marble at ₹9.67 also rank well because they last so long.
Is epoxy grout worth it?+
In kitchens, bathrooms and any high-traffic joint, yes. It costs about ₹18 per sq ft more than cement grout, it does not stain, it does not harbour mould and it does not need re-grouting in year five. In a bedroom or a living room, cement grout is fine.
What does skirting cost?+
₹85 per running foot for skirting cut from the same tile as the floor, which is the standard detail, and ₹160 for a stone or timber skirting where a contrast or a taller profile is wanted. On a 700 sq ft flat with about 110 running feet of perimeter, that is ₹9,350 or ₹17,600.