Rates by what you are starting from
| Starting point | What comes out | Demolition cost | ₹ per running foot |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s–70s masonry platform | Tiled platform, built-in store, old dado | ₹16,000 – 22,000 | ₹21,000 – 32,000 |
| 1980s–90s platform with a sink counter | Platform and counter, dado retained where sound | ₹12,000 – 18,000 | ₹22,000 – 33,000 |
| Redevelopment possession, builder platform | Granite slab, token dado, builder sink | ₹8,000 – 14,000 | ₹23,500 – 35,500 |
| New tower, bare kitchen | Nothing | Nil | ₹24,500 – 39,500 |
| Plot house near the Gymkhana | Varies; frequently a full rebuild | ₹18,000 – 30,000 | ₹23,500 – 36,500 |
Ex-GST. Demolition figures include bagging and TMC-free BMC debris removal; they are quoted as a line, not absorbed.
A kitchen that is used for four hours a day
Chembur households cook more than most Mumbai households we work for — three cooked meals, daily tiffin preparation, and often a second person in the kitchen at some point in the day. The design consequences are unromantic and specific. Counter height is set to the person who actually cooks, measured rather than assumed, and 850 mm is frequently wrong. There are two working zones so two people are not competing for the same metre. The grinder and the mixer get a permanent home with a socket at counter level rather than living in a cupboard. Vessel storage is drawers, not shelves, because a stack of steel vessels on a shelf is retrieved by moving four other things. And the loft is designed for the annual items — the festival vessels, the bulk tins — which is what actually stops the counter filling up.
Three meals a day, two people, four hours
Worked example: 12 running foot kitchen, redevelopment possession
A 740 square foot flat handed over with a granite builder platform, a token tiled dado and a single sink. The family is moving from the 520 square foot flat that stood on the same plot, where the kitchen was separate and 40 square feet.
| Scope | ₹ lakh | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Demolition of the builder platform and debris | 0.14 | Slab, sink and dado removed, bagged and carted |
| Civil work and plumbing | 0.20 | Sink shifted to the window wall; drain re-fallen; new gas point |
| Base and wall carcass | 0.92 | BWP under the sink and along the external wall, 710-grade elsewhere |
| Shutters — laminate with two acrylic fronts | 0.62 | Matt laminate; acrylic on the tall bank for wipe-down |
| Hardware | 0.44 | Soft-close throughout; carousel; two vessel drawers on heavy-duty runners |
| Quartz counter and full-height dado | 0.36 | Quartz rather than granite — easier to wipe on this side of Chembur |
| Tall unit with pull-outs | 0.26 | Larder with a permanent grinder position and a counter-level socket |
| Loft storage | 0.06 | Full-width loft for festival vessels and bulk tins |
| Total, ex-GST | 3.00 | ₹25,000 per running foot |
Add 18% GST. Excludes appliances and chimney. The demolition line is the one most quotations omit and it is never zero on a possession flat.
Two constraints particular to Chembur kitchens
- Fine particulate on the refinery side. On the Mahul, Chheda Nagar and Vashi Naka side, anything left open collects a fine deposit. That argues for closed storage rather than open shelving, wipeable quartz rather than textured granite, a full-height splashback instead of a tiled dado with grout lines, and window seals that actually seal. None of it costs more if decided at the start.
- Old stock has a separate, small kitchen with one door. In the 1960s colony flats the kitchen is 35 to 45 square feet with a single entry and a window onto a duct. There is no room for a tall unit and a fridge on the same wall, and the honest design move is often to take the fridge out of the kitchen entirely and put it in the passage or dining area. Clients resist this and then, without exception, prefer it.
What the move from an old flat changes
A family arriving from a 40 square foot kitchen into a 65 square foot one has more wall but usually less storage than they think, because the old kitchen had a masonry store and a loft that held a great deal. We measure what actually has to be stored before drawing: the vessel count, the bulk tins, the pressure cookers, the festival crockery. It is an hour of unglamorous work and it decides whether the new kitchen needs a full-height larder, a loft, or both. Building the kitchen first and finding the storage shortfall afterwards is the commonest regret we hear in this suburb.
For the suburb overall, see interior designers in Chembur. For our kitchen materials, hardware and warranty across Mumbai, see modular kitchen designers in Mumbai.
Kitchen work by Greenbox Design Studio.
Frequently asked questions
How much does removing an old masonry platform cost?+
₹16,000 to ₹22,000 on a 1960s colony kitchen including bagging and debris removal, less on a newer platform. It is quoted as its own line rather than absorbed into the rate, because it varies with what is behind the tiles — occasionally a hidden duct or an old water line that has to be dealt with before anything is installed.
Quartz or granite for a Chembur kitchen?+
Quartz on the refinery side, for a practical reason: it is non-porous and wipes clean, and a full-height quartz splashback has no grout lines to hold the fine deposit this part of the suburb produces. Granite is perfectly good elsewhere in Chembur and costs less. It is a maintenance decision, not a status one.
Our old kitchen was 40 square feet and the new one is 65. Will storage improve?+
Only if it is planned. Old colony kitchens had masonry stores and deep lofts that held a surprising amount. We count the vessels, tins and annual items before drawing, and on most of these moves the answer is a full-height larder plus a full-width loft to break even, with the drawers being the actual improvement.
Where should the fridge go in a small old kitchen?+
Frequently outside it — in the passage or at the dining edge. A 35 to 45 square foot kitchen cannot carry a fridge, a tall unit and two working people. Clients resist the idea and then prefer it, because it returns a full run of counter and makes the kitchen usable by two at once.
Can you do the kitchen while we live in the flat?+
Yes, and we do it regularly here. We set up a temporary cooking point with the gas connection and a sink elsewhere, run the demolition and civil work in two days, and keep the total kitchen-out period to around twelve days. It needs planning rather than improvisation, and the society needs telling in advance.