Union Budget 2019: electricity and clean cooking gas for rural households by 2022, water by 2024

Finance Minister also promises 1.25 lakh km of road, 1.95 crore houses to be built

July 05, 2019 12:42 pm | Updated 12:45 pm IST

Madurai, Tamil nadu, 01/10/2017.FLOUTING NORMS: LPG cooking gas refills being stored in front of a house in Balarangapuram in Madurai by a distributor, whose go-down is situated some 50 metres away from the main road.Photo: G. Moorthy.

Madurai, Tamil nadu, 01/10/2017.FLOUTING NORMS: LPG cooking gas refills being stored in front of a house in Balarangapuram in Madurai by a distributor, whose go-down is situated some 50 metres away from the main road.Photo: G. Moorthy.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech on Friday, promised electricity and clean cooking gas to rural households by 2022, and water by 2024. She also announced development of rural transport and housing infrastructure.

"Gaon, Gareeb aur Kisan are at the centre of all our policies," said Ms. Sitharaman, adding, "All villages and almost 100% of houses have been provided with electricity."

Every single rural family, except those who are unwilling to take the connection, will have electricity and clean cooking gas by 2022, she said.

"The government is also working towards 'Har Ghar Jal’ (Water for Every House) by 2024. Provision of safe drinking water for every citizen is priority of the government," she added.

"The free LPG scheme, and electricity connections have transformed rural India. Schemes such as Bharat Mala, Sagarmala and UDAN are bridging rural urban divide and improving transport infrastructure," she said.

Rural housing and transport

The government’s rural road scheme has brought about socio-economic improvements, said Ms. Sitharaman. “All-weather connectivity has now been provided to over 97% of such habitations. 30,000 km of roads in this scheme have been built using green technology," she says.

The Finance Minister also promised 1.25 lakh km of road, to be built in the next five years under phase three of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. "The cost of the project is estimated at over Rs 80,000 crore," said Ms. Sitharaman.

The Budget also proposed setting up 1.95 crore houses under Pradhan Mantari Awas Yojna (Rural). "The completion of houses has come down from 314 days per house in 2015-16 to 114 days now," she said.

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