In a move to provide housing for urban poor, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Wednesday will provide concessional finance under Affordable Housing Fund (AHF), rebate in taxes and additional floor area ratio for Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs). The scheme will be implemented through two models.
To make this a lucrative and viable business opportunity for Entities, Central Govt. will provide Concessional Project finance under Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) & Priority Sector Lending (PSL), Exemption in Income Tax and GST and technology innovation grant for promotion of innovative technologies in ARHCs. Further, State/UT government will provide Use Permission changes, 50% additional Floor Area Ratio/ Floor space index (FSI) free of cost, Single Window Approval within 30 days, Trunk Infrastructure facility and Municipal charges at par with residential property.
This was announced by Union Housing and Urban Affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri while addressing a webinar at the launch of ARHCs portal. He also released the guidelines and guidebook on this occasion.
According to the ministry, in the first model, the existing government funded vacant houses to be converted into ARHCs through Public Private Partnership or by public agencies for a period of 25years. The scheme provides an opportunity for all States/UTs to convert their existing vacant houses constructed under various Central/ State Government schemes into ARHCs. A model request for proposal (RFP) has been shared with all States for customisation and issuance by them to select a concessionaire.
In the second model, vacant land lying unutilised with various Industries, Trade Associations, Manufacturing Companies, Educational/ Health Institutions, Development Authorities, Housing Boards, Central/ State Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and other such Entities will be used for ARHCs for a period of 25 years. “By providing with appropriate policy support, enabling suitable provisions and incentives, these available vacant lands can be utilised effectively for developing affordable housing facilities to migrants/ poor,” the ministry said. Further, the ministry will issue Expression of Interest (EoI) for shortlisting of Entities by urban local bodies to Construct, Operate and Maintain ARHCs on their own available vacant land.