205K more urban houses under PM’s housing plan

Taking the cumulative number of houses sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) to 6.5 million, the ministry of housing and urban affairs on Wednesday approved 205,442 houses to be added under the Prime Minister’s scheme.

The approval was given in the 40th meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) held on Wednesday.

Under the scheme, Maharashtra has been sanctioned 116,042 more houses and Karnataka, 31,657. The incremental number of houses sanctioned for Bihar is 26,880, while Tamil Nadu has been sanctioned 15,529 houses and Jammu & Kashmir, 15,334 houses.

“2.75 lakh (275,000) people have benefited from the credit link subsidy scheme in which Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Lower Income Group (LIG) and Middle Income Group (MIG) are included. From 2004 to 2014, only around 18,000 people benefited. By the end of this financial year, we aim to cross 4 lakh (400,000) beneficiaries. A loan of around ₹6,000 crore has been sanctioned under this,” said Durga Shankar Mishra, secretary at the ministry of housing and urban affairs.

Till now, 3.5 million houses have been approved for construction and 1.2 million have been handed over to people, he noted. Officials are targeting to complete around 3 million houses this financial year.

A total of 392 projects with a cost of ₹7,391 crore with a central assistance of ₹3,082 crore were approved at the meeting.

“I expect more of such sops although evidence shows that sops given towards the end of the regime don’t work,” said political analyst and Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav, adding that “it reconfirms” a sense of anxiety in the Central government.

NEWDELHI: