In a bid to revive the housing sector and create jobs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced the allocation of Rs 48,000 crore for the completion of 80 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), both rural and urban, during the next fiscal year.
“In 2022-23, 80 lakh houses will be completed for the identified eligible beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana, both rural and urban. Rs 48,000 crore is allocated for this purpose,” the Minister said, tabling the Budget.
The Centre would work with States for reduction of time required for all land and construction-related approvals, for promoting affordable housing for middle-class and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in urban areas, she said.
“We shall also work with the financial sector regulators to expand access to capital along with the reduction in the cost of intermediation,” the Minister said.
For better land records management, Sitharaman said the States will be encouraged to adopt Unique Land Parcel Identification Number to facilitate IT-based management of records.
On Monday, the Economy Survey highlighted that 33.99 lakh houses were completed in 2020-21 and 26.20 lakh units as of November 25, 2021, under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Gramin (PMAY-G) programme. For the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U), the survey noted that 14.56 lakh houses were completed in FY21. In 2021-22, 4.49 lakh houses were completed till December 2021.
The Union Budget 2022-23 has also allocated Rs 2600 crore to the Housing and Urban Affairs for the construction of non-residential office buildings of the Central Vista project, including Parliament and the Supreme Court. This is Rs 767.56 crore more than Rs 1,833.43 crore given in the last fiscal.
The redevelopment project of the Central Vista — the nation’s power corridor —envisages a new triangular Parliament building, a common central secretariat, revamping of the three-kilometer Rajpath boulevard that stretches from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate, a new Prime Minister’s residence and a new Prime Minister’s Office as well as a new Vice President’s Enclave. For residential purposes, the Ministry has been given Rs 873.02 crore.
Six infrastructure firms, including Tata Projects Limited, L&T Limited and Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Limited, are in the race to win the contract to construct the Executive Enclave, which will house the new PMO, Cabinet Secretariat, India House and National Security Council Secretariat.
According to the proposed plan, the Executive Enclave will come up on the south side of the South Block in plot number 36/38 in the high-security zone in Lutyens’ Delhi.
Last year, Larsen & Toubro Limited had been awarded the contract for the construction and maintenance of the first three buildings of the Common Central Secretariat.