The Central government on Wednesday (9 June) gave approval to 708 proposals for construction of 3.61 lakh houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U)-- another move with the objective of providing pucca houses to all eligible beneficiaries of Urban India by 2022 with the vision of 'Housing for All'.

The decision was taken at the 54th Meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) under PMAY-U held here. The meeting was attended by 13 states and the Union Territories (UTs). This was the first CSMC meeting during the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

These houses are proposed to be constructed across beneficiary led construction and affordable housing in partnership verticals.

With this, as on date, the total number of sanctioned houses under PMAY(U) is now 112.4 lakh and so far, 82.5 lakh have been grounded for construction of which 48.31 lakhs have been completed and delivered.

Total investment under the mission is Rs 7.35 lakh crore, which has Central assistance of Rs 1.81 lakh crore of which Rs 96,067 crore of funds have been released.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has laid renewed emphasis to accelerate housing construction and completion across the country within stipulated time under PMAY(U).

"The demand for sanction has saturated in all states and UTs. Utilisation of unused funds and ensuring completion of the projects within stipulated time is our prime focus now," said Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary (MoHUA), at the meeting.

The states and the UTs also put in their proposals for revision of projects due to various issues such as, of land, topographical hazards, inter-city migration, change of preferences of verticals and loss of lives.

Addressing the participating states and the UTs, Secretary, MoHUA, laid emphasis on six Light House Projects (LHPs), the foundation stones of which were laid by Prime Minister in January this year.

The LHPs are being constructed at Agartala, Chennai, Lucknow, Ranchi, Rajkot and Indore. "These LHPs should galvanize all concerned departments involved in construction. Use of cutting-edge technology should be replicated and scaled up," said the Secretary.

Secretary, MoHUA, also inaugurated a newly constructed Demonstration Housing Project (DHP) in Panchkula, Haryana which will be used as a working woman hostel on rental basis.

Under Technology sub mission of PMAY-U, six DHPs have been completed so far and seven are being constructed in different parts of the country.

DHPs are model housing projects built with new or alternate technology that not only showcase field level application of the technology but also used as platform to impart on-site orientation and training to practitioners and students in the housing sector on the application and use of such technology.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)