Grades you will see quoted
| Grade | Colour of liner | Board rate | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | Ivory | ₹22–28 / sq ft | Bedroom and living room ceilings |
| Moisture resistant (MR) | Green | ₹30–40 / sq ft | Bathroom lobbies, kitchen ceilings, utility |
| Fire resistant (FR) | Pink / red | ₹38–52 / sq ft | Shafts, service ducts, office lobbies |
| Impact resistant | Grey-blue | ₹55–75 / sq ft | Corridors, schools, high-traffic walls |
Board is roughly a quarter of an installed ceiling. Frame, screws, jointing compound, tape and labour make up the rest — hence ₹85–130 per sq ft installed.
Where it beats wet plaster
Dry construction is the real argument. A gypsum ceiling goes up, gets jointed and is ready for primer in about two days; the same area in POP adds several days of drying to the programme. In an occupied flat or a phased office fit-out, those days are the whole argument.
Board also gives you a predictable plane. It is manufactured flat to within a millimetre, so a level frame produces a level ceiling regardless of who screws it on. And it takes a service penetration cleanly — a downlight cut-out in board is a hole saw, in POP it is a repair.
The three specification points people miss
- Frame, not board, decides the ceiling. Ceiling sections at 450–610 mm centres with intermediate channels at 1,220 mm; anything sparser sags between hangers within two monsoons.
- Jointing is three coats. Tape, fill, finish, each sanded. A two-coat job telegraphs every joint once a grazing light is switched on.
- Green board is not waterproof. MR board resists humidity; it still fails under a leak. Behind a shower you want cement board, not gypsum.
Board partitions are the other common use: a 75 mm or 100 mm stud wall with board both faces, at ₹165–260 per sq ft with insulation. That is the fastest way to add a study wall in a flat without adding slab load, and it is how most office fit-outs build cabins. Related terms: false ceiling and civil work.
Frequently asked questions
What thickness of gypsum board is used for ceilings?+
12.5 mm is standard for ceilings and single-layer partitions in India. 15 mm appears in fire-rated and acoustic build-ups, usually as two layers with staggered joints. Anything thinner than 9 mm belongs in a curved detail, not a field ceiling.
Can gypsum board be used in a bathroom?+
Moisture-resistant board is fine for a bathroom ceiling with working extraction. It is not suitable inside a shower enclosure or anywhere it may be splashed directly — that calls for fibre cement board with a waterproof membrane over it.
How much weight can a gypsum ceiling carry?+
The board carries almost nothing. Any fan, chandelier, projector or heavy track must be hung from the slab on its own anchor, passing through the board. We mark those positions before the frame goes up.
Is gypsum board fire resistant?+
Regular board gives limited resistance because the water bound in the gypsum core has to boil off first. For a rated assembly you need FR-grade board in a tested build-up — board alone does not carry the rating; the whole frame, layer count and joint treatment do.