Two kitchen quotes can differ by ₹1 lakh and describe the same cabinets. One of them quietly includes a chimney and a counter, and the other does not. Designers lead with a per-square-foot or per-running-foot figure. That figure covers the cabinet carcass, the shutters and the hardware fitted to them. Everything else that makes the room a working kitchen is priced somewhere else, or in a footnote, or not at all. This post lists those other lines. It prices the ones we could read from a maker, a retailer or the government, and marks the ones we could not. For the cabinet figure itself, use the modular kitchen cost calculator. We do not restate its numbers here.
How the prices below were collected. We took every figure marked as read on 7 October 2026 that day from the maker's own India web shop or from a government notification. Century Plyboards gave us board prices. Faber India gave us the chimney and the sink. Glen Appliances gave us the hob. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs gave us GST. Online shop prices are selling prices that change with promotions. So treat them as a marker of where the range sits, not as the price you will be quoted. We did not use trade directories or classified listings. Where a line could not be priced from a maker, retailer or government source, the post says so.
What a cabinet quote normally covers, and what it does not
A modular kitchen is built from factory-made carcass boxes and shutters assembled on site. A cabinet quote normally covers the boxes (the carcass), the shutters in a stated finish, and the standard hinges and drawer channels. Whether it includes fitting those units varies by vendor, so ask. Six lines most often fall outside the quote, or are priced at an unstated grade. This post takes them in turn.
| Line | Usually inside the cabinet rate? | Priced from a maker, retailer or government source today? |
|---|---|---|
| Carcass board grade (BWP plywood, marine plywood, HDHMR, MDF) | Yes, at the grade the vendor names; the grade is the variable | Yes for two plywood grades (Century Plyboards); not for HDHMR or MDF |
| Hinges, channels, baskets and tandem boxes | Basic hardware yes; branded soft-close and corner units often an upgrade | No. The maker pages we read (Ebco) list specifications but no consumer price |
| Countertop (granite or quartz) | Usually no | No maker or retailer price list readable on 7 October 2026, so no figure |
| Sink, chimney and hob | Usually no | Yes: Faber (chimney, sink) and Glen (hob) on their own web shops |
| Installation, civil, plumbing and electrical work | Cabinet fitting varies by vendor (our calculator's figure excludes it); civil, plumbing and electrical usually no | No price source; the calculator page itself says civil work should be finished before cabinet installation starts |
| GST on a supply-and-install contract | Quotes vary on whether it is inside the figure | Yes: CBIC notifications read today |
Three of the six lines (board grade, sink-chimney-hob, GST) are priced from a maker, retailer or government source read today, which is the floor for publishing this post. Hardware, countertop and installation are not.
Carcass board: the grade changes the price, and the standard names the grade
The carcass is the box behind the shutter. It is where a cheap quote saves money without telling you. Three board families dominate Indian modular kitchens. The first is plywood in a boiling-water-proof (BWP) or marine grade. The second is HDHMR (high-density, high-moisture-resistant fibreboard). The third is MDF. Bureau of Indian Standards specifications set the plywood grades. Century Plyboards states that its Sainik 710 plywood complies with IS 303 BWP. That is the standard for general-purpose plywood in the boiling-water-proof grade. It describes its Club Prime plywood as a premium BWP marine-grade board that is IS 710 compliant. Ask which standard a vendor's board meets. Ask for the brand and grade in the quote. A quote that says only plywood has not told you which of these you are getting.
Here is what the two grades cost, from the maker's web shop on 7 October 2026. Sainik 710 is listed at ₹122 per unit including GST. The page defines a unit as about 929 sq cm, which is one square foot. Club Prime is listed at an MRP of ₹171 per unit including GST, with the unit stated for 19 mm board. The Sainik page we read does not state a thickness against its price. So compare the two on the unit price, and confirm thickness before you rely on the gap.
| Board | Standard stated by the maker | Price per square foot, GST included | Per 8 ft by 4 ft sheet (32 sq ft) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sainik 710 | IS 303 BWP | ₹122 | ₹3,904 |
| Club Prime (19 mm) | Described as IS 710 compliant, BWP marine grade | ₹171 | ₹5,472 |
| Gap | ₹49 | ₹1,568 |
Arithmetic: ₹122 × 32 = ₹3,904; ₹171 × 32 = ₹5,472; difference ₹49 × 32 = ₹1,568. These are prices of the board as a commodity, not of a finished carcass, which also carries edge banding, labour and wastage.
How much board a kitchen uses depends on the layout, so we do not assume a figure for yours. Here is an illustration only. Say a kitchen's carcass needed 10 sheets. The gap between the two grades above would be 10 × ₹1,568 = ₹15,680. That sum belongs inside the cabinet price, not on top of it. The point is that a vendor who quotes the cheaper grade and a vendor who quotes the dearer grade are not offering the same cabinets. A difference of about 40% in board price per square foot (₹49 on ₹122) is a reason for a quote gap that has nothing to do with markup. We did not price HDHMR or MDF from a maker's page today, so we give no figure for them. Fibre board and plywood both attract GST at 18% under the notification discussed below.
Hardware: where the quote hides its brand choices
Hinges, drawer channels, tandem boxes, baskets and corner units are the second place a quote gets cheaper without telling you. We read Ebco's soft-close hinge product pages on 7 October 2026. They give opening angles, overlay types and mounting plates, and no price. We could not read the Häfele India shop, which refused our connection. Trade directories do list prices for these parts. But they are not a manufacturer, retailer or government source, so we do not use them. We therefore give no figure for hardware. This is the line where a published number would be most useful. We would rather leave it blank than quote a directory.
What you can do without a price list is count. Before you compare quotes, ask each vendor to write down the following, unit by unit. Ask for the number of hinges. Ask for the length and type of each drawer channel (soft-close or plain, partial or full extension). Ask for the brand and model of every tandem box, basket and corner mechanism. Ask whether the pull-outs in the 3D design are in the price or marked optional. A design render often shows a bottle pull-out, a corner carousel and a cutlery tray that the priced list does not include. Two quotes with the same total and different counts are not the same quote.
- Hinges: how many per door, soft-close or not, brand and model.
- Drawer systems: full-extension soft-close runners or plain telescopic channels. Metal-sided tandem boxes or wooden drawer boxes.
- Baskets and pull-outs: which ones are in the price (a corner mechanism, a bottle pull-out, a tall unit) and which are shown in the render only.
- Handles or profile-grip: included or per-piece.
- Spares: whether a spare set of hinges and channels is supplied.
Countertop: granite and quartz, and why there is no price here
The platform is the line most often left out of a cabinet quote. It is bought from a stone or slab supplier and cut to the cabinet run. We could not find a stone maker's or slab retailer's own price list that we could read today. We do not publish a countertop rate taken from a design firm's article or a listing portal. So there is no ₹ figure for this line. Granite is usually priced per square foot of platform and quartz per slab. Ask the vendor which basis the quote uses. For quartz, ask for the slab count and the brand.
Take a straight run of 10 ft with a 2 ft deep platform. It is 20 sq ft, which is the area to multiply a per-square-foot granite quote by. Whichever stone you choose, confirm four things in writing. These are the thickness, the edge profile, whether the sink cut-out and hob cut-out are included, and whether a backsplash is part of the price.
Sink, chimney and hob: three appliances, priced from the makers
These three are the lines we can price properly, from the makers' own web shops on 7 October 2026. You can buy each one separately. So each is the line most often left out of a cabinet quote and bought later at a higher price.
Chimney
Faber India's 90 cm chimney listing showed eleven models on the day we read it. One of them was a 60 cm unit, and ten were marked sold out. Sale prices ran from ₹16,950 to ₹54,990, and MRPs from ₹29,990 to ₹71,500. The cheapest on the list was a baffle-filter model with a 1,500 cubic metre per hour suction rating. Its sale price was ₹16,950 against an MRP of ₹32,690. The filterless models in the list sit between ₹17,893 and ₹54,990 at sale price. The gap between sale price and MRP is large everywhere on the page. So a quote that says MRP is not describing what you would pay on the maker's own shop. And a vendor who quotes you the sale price is not necessarily giving a discount.
Hob
Glen Appliances' four-burner built-in glass hob has European sealed burners and auto-ignition (model 1065 TRG). It was listed on its web shop at ₹12,498 against a struck-through list price of ₹24,995. That is one model, not a range. Glen's site lists dearer four-burner models. We read one price page in full and give one figure. The point for a quote is the same as for the chimney. A hob is a stand-alone appliance with its own warranty. The cutout in the countertop has to match its dimensions. So the quote must name the model, and the design must draw the cutout.
Sink
Faber India's kitchen sink collection listed nine models on 7 October 2026. Sale prices ran from ₹6,367 to ₹20,392, and MRPs from ₹8,490 to ₹23,990. The listing does not show dimensions or steel grade in the card. So we cannot say which models are 304-grade steel. Ask for the grade and the thickness of the steel. The sink has to match the cabinet below it. The maker states the cabinet width it requires on its product page. For example, the Franke Grand 24 x 18 single bowl we read lists a minimum cabinet size of 80 cm. A base unit built to the wrong width is a rework charge.
| Item | Maker | Sale price | MRP or list price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 cm chimney listing, eleven models (ten sold out) | Faber India | ₹16,950 to ₹54,990 | ₹29,990 to ₹71,500 |
| 4-burner built-in glass hob, one model (1065 TRG) | Glen Appliances | ₹12,498 | ₹24,995 |
| Kitchen sink, nine models | Faber India | ₹6,367 to ₹20,392 | ₹8,490 to ₹23,990 |
Sale prices as shown on the web shops on the day; these move with promotions. Prices include GST. The chimney range covers the models listed on the page we read, not every Faber chimney.
Add them up. A chimney, a hob and a sink at the low ends of the ranges above come to ₹16,950 + ₹12,498 + ₹6,367 = ₹35,815. At the high ends of the chimney and the sink, with the one hob price, they come to ₹54,990 + ₹12,498 + ₹20,392 = ₹87,880. The countertop comes on top of that, at whatever rate your stone supplier quotes. These are inputs for checking a quote, not a bill of quantities. Your kitchen may need a different chimney width, a gas pipeline fitting and a water filter that are not in the list.
Installation, civil, plumbing and electrical work
We found no maker, retailer or government price for this line, so there is no figure here. What matters is the boundary. Whether cabinet fitting is inside a vendor's rate varies, and the cabinet figure from our calculator excludes installation. So ask. The civil work around it is usually separate. That means tile or stone dado, floor tiling, relocating a plumbing point, a new drain line, extra electrical points for the chimney and the hob, and a dedicated socket for appliances. Our modular kitchen cost calculator page notes that civil work should be finished before cabinet installation starts. Civil work here means tiling, plumbing and electrical. That is the reason these lines are often billed by a different contractor.
Ask each vendor for an inclusion list in this form. Who removes the old kitchen? Who does the wall and floor tiling? Who moves the water and drain points? Who runs the electrical conduits and points? Who fits the chimney duct? Who clears the debris? If the answer is the client, the line belongs in your own renovation budget. The home renovation cost calculator and the home interior design cost calculator can help you frame it as a whole-home figure rather than a kitchen-only one.
GST: supply of goods versus supply and install
The tax line is where quotes quietly diverge. The same kitchen can be quoted as goods, as a works contract, or as a lump sum with GST included. We read two notifications on the CBIC's sites on 7 October 2026.
For the goods, the Integrated Tax (Rate) notification 9/2025 dated 17 September 2025, in force from 22 September 2025, applies. Its 18% schedule lists these items: plywood (heading 4412), fibre board (4411), particle board (4410), ventilating or recycling hoods incorporating a fan (8414), and other furniture other than furniture wholly of bamboo, cane or rattan (9403). It also lists base metal fittings suitable for furniture (8302), stoves and cooking appliances of iron or steel (7321), sanitary ware of iron and steel (7324) and worked building stone (6802). The copy we read is hosted on a CBIC server and carries the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India's formatting. The integrated tax rate applies to inter-state supplies. A supply within one state bears the same 18% in total as central plus state tax. We did not separately read that split today.
For a supply that includes installation, the entry is serial 3 of the Central Tax (Rate) notification 11/2017, heading 9954 (construction services). As first issued, it listed a composite supply of works contract as defined in section 2(119) of the CGST Act at 9% central tax. With the matching state or Union Territory tax, that makes 18%. That serial has since been restructured and was amended again from 22 September 2025. We read only the version first issued. So ask the supplier which entry and rate they apply, and check it on the invoice. Whether a particular kitchen is a works contract (immovable property) or a supply of furniture (movable goods) depends on how it is fixed and on the contract's terms. It is for the supplier and, if needed, an advance ruling. For a buyer the useful point is that the rates we read on both routes are 18%. So the main question is whether the quote shows GST at all.
| Quote style | What the number means | GST at 18% | What you pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹4,00,000 plus GST | Taxable value before tax | ₹72,000 | ₹4,72,000 |
| ₹4,72,000 inclusive of GST | GST is inside the figure | ₹72,000 (₹4,72,000 ÷ 1.18 = ₹4,00,000 base) | ₹4,72,000 |
| ₹4,00,000, GST not mentioned | Unclear; ask in writing | ₹72,000 if added later | ₹4,00,000 or ₹4,72,000 |
Arithmetic: 18% of ₹4,00,000 = ₹72,000. The three rows are the same kitchen at different quote styles; only the first and second are the same price. Always ask for the total including GST and a GST invoice with the supplier's GSTIN.
Prices on the makers' shops already include GST. That is why a chimney marked ₹16,950 contains about ₹2,586 of tax (₹16,950 ÷ 1.18 = ₹14,364 before tax). Suppose a vendor buys the appliance for you and quotes it without GST. Compare it with the maker's shelf price including GST, not with the number before tax.
Worked example: check a ₹2.4 lakh quote line by line
Say a vendor quotes ₹2,40,000 for a straight kitchen with 10 running feet of cabinets, GST included. Is that fair? The answer depends on what is inside the number. Start with a price list. WoodenStreet's modular kitchen price page, which we read on 21 October 2026 (published 21 November 2025), gives a rate per square foot by material. It does not say whether the rates include GST. We treat them as before GST, which is the careful reading. Our calculator assumes one running foot of base and wall cabinets has about 4.7 square feet of front. That is an assumption, not a published figure. Multiply the two to get a rate per running foot.
| Material | Per sq ft (WoodenStreet) | Per running foot (× 4.7) |
|---|---|---|
| MDF | ₹1,900 to ₹2,400 | ₹8,930 to ₹11,280 |
| Plywood | ₹2,500 to ₹3,000 | ₹11,750 to ₹14,100 |
| BWP or marine plywood | ₹3,000 to ₹3,500 | ₹14,100 to ₹16,450 |
| Acrylic finish | ₹3,500 to ₹4,200 | ₹16,450 to ₹19,740 |
Per-sq-ft ranges as printed by WoodenStreet (21 Nov 2025). Per-running-foot figures are our arithmetic: the rate times 4.7 sq ft of cabinet front per running foot, which is an assumption.
Now test the quote. Ten running feet is about 47 square feet of cabinet front (10 × 4.7). The same ₹2,40,000 reads three ways, depending on what the vendor has put inside it. We use the chimney, hob and sink totals from earlier in this post. Those totals already include GST.
- Cabinets only. Take out GST: ₹2,40,000 ÷ 1.18 = ₹2,03,390. That is ₹4,327 per square foot, or ₹20,339 per running foot. It is above even the acrylic range. Ask the vendor why.
- With a chimney, hob and sink at the low end. Take out ₹35,815. What is left is ₹2,04,185. Remove GST: ₹1,73,038. That is ₹3,682 per square foot. It sits just above the BWP range and inside the acrylic range.
- With a chimney, hob and sink at the high end. Take out ₹87,880. What is left is ₹1,52,120. Remove GST: ₹1,28,915. That is ₹2,743 per square foot. It sits in the plywood range.
The lesson is not that the quote is good or bad. It is that you cannot judge it until the vendor writes down what is inside. If the vendor says appliances are included, ask for the model names and compare them with the maker's shelf price. If the vendor says cabinets only, the rate is high for this list and needs a reason. Use the modular kitchen cost calculator for the cabinet range on your own layout and finish.
How to compare two quotes line by line
Put the two quotes in the same grid, and fill the gaps from the vendor, not from the render. Use the cabinet figure from the calculator as the reference for the cabinet line. Treat anything else as an add-on you must see priced.
- Cabinet area and rate: the quoted square or running feet and the finish. Cross-check with the calculator.
- Carcass board: brand, grade, standard (IS 303 BWP, IS 710 marine, HDHMR, MDF) and thickness. A one-grade difference can account for tens of rupees per square foot, as the Century figures above show.
- Hardware: the counted list described above.
- Countertop: stone, thickness, edge, cut-outs, backsplash, and who supplies it.
- Sink, chimney, hob: the model, and whether it is in the price. Compare with the maker's shelf price on the day.
- Civil, plumbing and electrical: a line for each, with a named contractor.
- GST: the rate, whether it is inside the figure, and the invoice.
- Payment schedule and warranty: the stage payments, and the warranty on carcass, hardware and appliances separately.
A quote that cannot be completed against this grid is not necessarily dearer or cheaper. It is unfinished. The unfinished lines are where the bill grows after the advance is paid. Say two vendors quote the same cabinet area with a gap of ₹1 lakh between them. Ask each one line by line where the gap sits. Start with the board grade. It is the only line in the cabinet price that can change the price while leaving the drawing identical.