Centre ask states to ensure occupancy of completed houses under affordable housing scheme
Inadequate infrastructure including water, sanitation, sewerage, electricity and roads is seen as the key reason for people staying away from homes built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana's (PMAY) Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) vertical.
Also read | Affordable housing financiers become market darlings after RBI rate cut
The housing and urban affairs ministry (MoHUA) in a recent meeting with several states including Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh discussed the issue that is affecting the government scheme to provide all-weather pucca houses to all eligible beneficiaries.
Low occupancy
According to data provided by the ministry to Parliament in March, out of the 118 million houses sanctioned under PMAY, about 90 million have been completed and 87.5 million occupied.
"The occupancy of completed AHP houses under PMAY-U is very low particularly in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. States and union territories need to expedite the completion of houses, infrastructure work and allotment of completed AHP houses to the beneficiaries. MoHUA has raised concerns with states and noted that unoccupancy continues due to inadequate infrastructure in several states," said a person in the know of the developments.
Also read | How affordable housing in India has become unaffordable
Another person said that states have also been directed to ensure occupancy of completed houses under the Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) vertical in a city before starting work on new projects under PMAY-2 in the same city.
The Centre has been advising states to "identify and attach" beneficiaries under the AHP vertical in the initial phase of approval to avoid unoccupancy later stage.
In order to ensure better occupancy under the PMAY (Urban)-2, the government has asked states to ensure that projects under the scheme should come with basic civic amenities like water, sanitation, roads and electricity, said the first person mentioned above.
The Union cabinet in August last year approved PMAY-U 2.0, under which financial assistance is committed for 10 million urban poor and middle-class families through state government and union territories to build, buy or rent a house at an affordable cost in urban areas in five years.
Four verticals
The central government will provide assistance of up to ₹2.50 lakh per house under the scheme. PMAY-U, launched in June 2015, was revamped and launched as PMAY-U 2.0.
The scheme has four verticals through which beneficiaries are supported -- 'Affordable Housing in Partnership' (AHP), Beneficiary-Led Construction (BLC), Affordable Rental Housing (ARH) and Interest Subsidy Scheme (ISS).
Under AHP, financial assistance is provided to beneficiaries from the economically weaker section for owning houses being built with different partnerships by states, union territories, public or private agencies, while under BLC, financial assistance is provided to individual eligible families to construct new houses on their own vacant land, or land provided by the government.
Also read | PMAY 2.0: What is it, how to apply for housing, know eligibility & more
Queries sent to the union ministry of housing and urban affairs remained unanswered till press time.
"Centre has stressed the need for a case-by-case approach for addressing the occupancy challenges and reasons may differ for different projects and cities. States have also been told to ensure sufficient budgetary allocations to expedite completion of non-started houses under PMAY-U," said the first person mentioned above.
The ministry has suggested geo-tagging all sanctioned houses in a time-bound manner to monitor progress.
The Centre has also suggested that old central or state government-funded houses that are unoccupied are allotted to eligible PMAY-U 2.0 beneficiaries.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Time of India
SC seeks Centre, states' reply on PIL for seller transparency, online & offline
The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Centre and states on a PIL seeking enforcement of consumers' right to know the identity and credentials of sellers, dealers, distributors and shop owners, both online and offline. This mandatory disclosure was required to seek redressal against unfair restrictive trade practices and unscrupulous exploitation in spirit under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 . Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category Data Analytics Artificial Intelligence Digital Marketing PGDM healthcare Data Science Design Thinking Project Management Technology Finance Data Science Healthcare Others MCA Cybersecurity Degree MBA Leadership Management others Public Policy Operations Management Product Management CXO Skills you'll gain: Data Analysis & Visualization Predictive Analytics & Machine Learning Business Intelligence & Data-Driven Decision Making Analytics Strategy & Implementation Duration: 12 Weeks Indian School of Business Applied Business Analytics Starts on Jun 13, 2024 Get Details The Bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta sought response from the various ministries, the Law Commission of India and all the state governments and Union Territories. The PIL filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay , a practising advocate, has sought a direction to the Centre and states to mandate the display of essential seller information, including registration, address, phone number and number of employees at their entry gates on a display board visible to an ordinary person. He also urged the court to order that that every consumer has right to know not only about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard, manufacturing date, expiry date and various certification of good and products, but also about the details of the shop owner, so as to seek redressal against unfair trade practices. Live Events "Right to Know" about distributor, dealer, trader, seller and shop owner was secured under the Consumer Protection Act and, therefore, every consumer has the right to access details of product, service as well as distributor and shop owner before making a purchase, Upadhyay said. This would help consumers to avoid falling prey to fraudulent or deceptive distributors, shop owners, who might misrepresent their product services or disappear after sale, purchase and money transaction, the lawyer said, adding that owner details were essential for filing complaints under Consumer Protection Act and for seeking redressal through consumer redressal fora. According to the PIL, the 'right to know' is rooted in Article 19(1)(a) and forms an essential part of the right to make informed decisions.
Mint
2 hours ago
- Mint
Fall in coal imports in FY25 led to forex savings worth ₹60,681 crore, says coal minister
India's coal imports in 2024-25 fell nearly 8% to 243.62 million tonnes, leading to foreign exchange savings of over ₹ 60,681.67 crore, said G. Kishan Reddy, the Union minister for coal and mines, on Monday. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the minister noted that the imports stood at 264.53 million tonnes in 2023-24. 'During 2024-25, India imported 243.62 million tonnes of coal, compared to 264.53 million tonnes in 2023-24. Due to the reduction of around 20.91 million tonnes in coal imports, there has been a forex savings of around ₹ 60,681.67 crore during 2024-25 compared to 2023-24,' Reddy said. The fall in imports comes amid the rise in domestic production. India's coal production reached 1.047 billion tonnes in the last fiscal year, nearly 5% higher than 997.83 million tonnes in 2023-24. The minister said most of the country's coal requirement is currently met through indigenous production and supplies. The ministry of coal has set an ambitious domestic coal production target of about 1.5 billion tonnes by 2029-30. The focus of the government is on increasing the domestic production of coal and reducing non-essential coal imports. The ministry of coal launched the Coal Logistics Plan and Policy in February 2024 to develop infrastructure for efficient coal evacuation, considering increased coal production projection by 2029-30," he said. The minister also outlined steps taken by the Centre to increase domestic coal production. He noted that, in addition to regular reviews by the coal ministry to expedite the development of coal blocks, the government has taken several regulatory measures in the past few years, including the enactment of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021. State-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) has adopted a number of measures to increase coal production, including the adoption of new and modern technologies like mass production technologies (MPT) with the deployment of continuous miners, longwalls, and highwalls wherever feasible, he said, adding that digital transformation has been implemented on apilot scale in seven of its mega mines. "Regular liaison is being undertaken by Singareni Collieries Co. Ltd for expediting the grant of permissions and clearances for the grounding of new projects and the operation of existing projects. SCCL has initiated action for developing infrastructure for the evacuation of coal, like coal handling plants (CHPs), crushers, mobile crushers, pre-weigh-bins, etc.," Reddy said.
Economic Times
3 hours ago
- Economic Times
Capex back at front & centre of govt's policy play as private sector watches from sidelines
The Centre is actively monitoring capital expenditure. This is because private investment is slow due to global uncertainties. The Centre's spending has increased significantly in the first two months of the fiscal year. Government's capital expenditure aims to stimulate economic growth. The government is exploring strategies to enhance economic activity. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Indian government is closely monitoring its capital expenditure ( capex ) as private investment remains sluggish, a trend exacerbated by global uncertainties linked to US tariffs. In the first two months of the fiscal year, the Centre has recorded a notable increase in spending, with 20% of its annual allocation utilised, compared to only 13% during the same period last year, ToI reported on July 21 citing official the past five years, the government's capital expenditure has served as a crucial policy instrument aimed at stimulating economic growth. The rationale is that increased public spending will create demand for goods and services, leading to job creation and encouraging private despite this proactive approach, the private sector remains hesitant, with investments primarily seen in sectors like cement and steel, where companies are responding to demand generated by government initiatives in segments, particularly electronics, are experiencing growth due to schemes like the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI). Yet, overall capacity utilisation in various industries is not sufficiently high to warrant significant new sectors such as automobiles and energy, the transition towards greener technologies has also contributed to delays in investment officials acknowledge the current weakness in private investment and are exploring strategies to enhance economic activity. There are discussions about increasing capex in areas with potential for higher absorptive could involve directing funds towards urban infrastructure projects, with planned discussions among the finance ministry and other government departments in the coming ahead, the government is committed to maintaining a strong focus on capital expenditure, particularly given the anticipated economic growth in the years to come. For the current fiscal year, the Centre has set a capex budget of Rs 11.4 lakh crore, with almost half earmarked for roads and hope is that as public investment continues to rise, the private sector will eventually follow suit, leading to a more robust and self-sustaining economic environment.
