The government will achieve the target of providing housing for all by mid-2019, housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday. “We are sanctioning 3-5 lakh houses every month,” said Puri. The government has estimated total housing shortage at 1.2 crore.
The government has so far sanctioned construction of 47.5 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). Of this, 27 lakh houses have been grounded, while construction of 8 lakh houses has been completed, Puri said. Total investment approved in the housing scheme is Rs 2.68 lakh crore, of which the central assistance approved is Rs 73,460 crore.
More than 1.65 lakh beneficiaries have themselves availed of housing loans under the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme for economically weaker sections, lower ncome groups and middle income groups. The interest subsidy released by central nodal agencies is Rs 3,559 crore.
On achievements of the NDA government, Puri said the overall proposed investment in urban infrastructure during 2014-18 is around Rs 6.86 lakh crore, much higher than Rs 1.58 lakh crore proposed investment by the previous government during 2004-2014.
The government has announced 99 smart cities so far. As many as 91 cities have incorporated special purpose vehicles and 948 projects are under implementation. According to the minister, the total investment proposed is Rs 2.03 lakh crore. The Smart Cities Mission was launched on June 25, 2015 with the objective to strengthen urban infrastructure through application of smart solutions and give a decent quality of life to citizens.
As many as 29 states have notified the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act. Ten states have established permanent regulatory authorities while 19 states have set up interim authorities. Six states have established the regular appellate tribunals and 15 have appointed interim appellate tribunals under the Act.
Twenty-one states have made fully operational web portals for enabling online registration of real estate projects and agents. The government has set up a central advisory council for RERA under the chairmanship of Puri.
Puri said the overall investment of Rs 51,183 crore has been approved for Metro rail projects during 2014-18. About 195 km of projects have been approved in seven states during the four years.