The government’s target of constructing one crore houses by 2022 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) could be completed by the end of 2020, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister of State (independent charge) Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday.
Speaking on the fourth anniversary of the launch of three schemes for urban development – PMAY (U), the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transportation (AMRUT) and the Smart Cities Mission – Mr. Puri said the NDA government had spent 554% more in five years than the UPA government had in 10 years on urban development projects.
So far, 81 lakh homes have been sanctioned, 48 lakh of those are under construction and 26 lakh have been completed and handed over to the beneficiaries, the Minister said.
“As against a target completion date of 2022, I am more or less confident that we can have all the sanctioning done by the first quarter of 2020 and more or less completion by end of 2020,” Mr. Puri said.
Of the ₹1.26 lakh crore committed for the scheme, ₹52,113 crore had been released so far, Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said. Under the scheme, beneficiaries from economically weaker sections (EWSs) can get ₹1.5 lakh for the construction of homes. The scheme also includes in situ slum redevelopment, credit-linked subsidies and affordable housing in partnership with private and public sector.
Speaking about AMRUT, Mr. Puri said the “top priority” for the government would be water supply across the country. Under the scheme, projects for improvement of water supply and sewerage networks, developing green spaces and non-motorised transport have been taken up in 500 cities with a population of over 1 lakh.
So far, the State plans of ₹77,640 crore had been approved. Of this, ₹39,011 crore was for water supply projects, ₹32,456 crore for sewerage and septage, ₹2,969 crore for storm water drainage, ₹1,436 crore for non-motorised urban transport and ₹1,768 crore for green spaces, the Ministry said.
Under the Smart Cities Mission, which covers 100 cities, a total investment of ₹2,05,018 crore would be made. Of that, projects worth ₹14,860 crore had been completed and projects worth ₹44,521 crore had been tendered, the Ministry said. In all, 16 integrated control and command centres had been operationalised.
