NEW DELHI (INDIA): Government of India today announced that it has so far approved construction of 12,83,616 affordable houses for urban poor in 2,329 cities and towns crossing the 12,40,968 mark approved under the ten years of Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
Making the announcement at a media conference here today, Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation M.Venkaiah Naidu said that his ministry today cleared construction of 1,97,402 housed for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(Urban) in seven States and there by crossing the JNNURM mark in a very short period.
Naidu further asserted that this speed, scale and spread of reaching out to urban poor in a short time since the launch of PMAY(Urban) in June last year is an evidence of “Government with a difference” and it “speaks volumes about the sense of urgency that this Government is according to make a difference to urban sector, which is the need of the hour”.
The Minister elaborated that this speedy performance was made possible by a paradigm shift in the approach to urban development including housing by empowering the State and city governments to formulate, evaluate and approve projects unlike in the past when every project report was assessed and approved by the Ministry resulting in huge delays in implementation.
Also, enhanced scale of central assistance, awareness campaign resulting in increased demand, inclusion of new components covering a wide range of urban poor helped in quick approvals, Naidu said.
The Minister informed that that as required under the Mission Guidelines ,over 20 States have undertaken reforms relating to Single Window Clearences for construction projects, doing away with Non-Agricultural Permission, formulating Master Plans earmarking land for affordable housing, grant of additional FAR etc., to promote affordable housing etc, so far. This he said is an ample evidence of “Governance with a difference based on the principles of Reform, Transform and Perform advocated the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi”.
Comparing performance under PMAY(Urban) and JNNURM, Naidu said that as against investment of Rs.32,717 cr approved under JNNURM, a huge investment of Rs.70,145 cr has already been cleared under PMAY(Urban). While central assistance of only Rs.17,405 cr was committed during the previous ten years, Rs.19,009 cr has already been approved under the new scheme. While only 939 cities were covered earlier, 2,329 cities and towns have already been sanctioned housing projects so far, Shri Naidu said.
The Minister stated that Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal as ‘good performing’ States under PMAY(Urban) so far in terms of starting construction work under approved projects.
States sanctioned affordable houses by the Ministry of HUPA today are: Tamil Nadu-1,13,327 houses with an investment of Rs.3,714 cr, Karnataka- 31,880 (Rs.1,186 cr), Gujarat-18,248 (Rs.1,096 cr), Madhya Pradesh-16,448 (Rs.813 cr), Punjab-16,187 (Rs.447 cr), Rajasthan-1,280 (Rs.50 cr) and Meghalaya-32 (Rs.1.00 cr).
Naidu also informed that to enable timely execution projects under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), State Action Plans for the next three financial years are being sanctioned in one go to enable advance planning and implementation to realise mission targets by 2019 as envisaged.
He stated that withdrawal of high value currency notes announced by the Government would have a positive impact on real estate sector, ultimately benefitting the sector and all stakeholders. He said it will lead to stabilization of prices and result in a ‘new normal’ in the sector. Since the fixed income and salaried people are the main buyers of affordable housing, this move would help affordable housing segment where in unaccounted transactions are almost non-extant.
Naidu said that he would soon have a meeting with sector representatives to hear their point of view.