Prime Minister to lay foundation stone of housing project for urban poor

LUCKNOW : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of the ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana’ project during the ground-breaking ceremony here on July 28.

In Lucknow, the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) is rolling out the Prime Minister’s prestigious project – housing for all urban poor by 2022, when India completes 75 years of Independence.

The first batch of 2,048 houses under the PMAY will come up at Sharda Nagar extension, Rae Bareli road, in Lucknow. The entire project will cost around Rs 90 crore. The development authority has earmarked 12.5 acres of land for the project. Each house will cost ₹4.42 lakh and have a carpet area of 23 sq m. It will have a multipurpose room, a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had approved the design of the houses last year.

“The LDA has invited tenders for the project. There is no problem in executing the project as the land belongs to the development authority,” said PN Singh, vice-chairman, LDA. The PM will lay the foundation stone of the project during the groundbreaking ceremony on July 28, added Singh. Apart from Sharda Nagar, the development authority will construct 2,112 houses under the PMAY at Basant Kunj and Hardoi road. The LDA has also invited tenders for this project.

The project would cover such people in the EWS category whose annual income is not more than Rs 3 lakh. “The LDA is taking all possible measures to roll out the project within the stipulated time frame,” said an LDA official.

The state government has also asked its agencies like the LDA and the Awas Vikas Parishad, which construct houses, to earmark 30% of houses in all housing projects for the economically weaker sections of the society.