PM Awas Yojana: Over 88 Lakh Homes Provided to Urban Poor Since 2015
Click to start listening
New Delhi, Dec 5 (NationPress) More than 88.22 lakh houses have been delivered to beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) until November 25, 2024, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.
The Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu stated in response to a query that under PMAY-U, which was launched on June 25, 2015, a total of 118.64 lakh houses have been approved by the Ministry, out of which 114.22 lakh have been initiated and over 88.22 lakh have been delivered to the beneficiaries.
Sahu mentioned that learning from the experiences of PMAY-U, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) initiated PMAY-U 2.0 ‘Housing for All’ Mission on September 1, 2024, aiming to provide central assistance to an additional one crore households in the EWS/LIG/MIG categories for constructing, purchasing, and renting affordable housing in urban areas nationwide.
Currently, 29 States/UTs have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to implement PMAY-U 2.0 according to the scheme's guidelines. The total investment for this initiative is Rs 10 lakh crore, which includes a government subsidy of Rs 2.30 lakh crore, as shared by the MoS.
In response to another inquiry, Sahu noted that the government is promoting prefabricated housing construction technology as an affordable and sustainable option to tackle the housing deficit in urban regions.
“Approximately 10 lakh houses have been built using innovative construction technologies, including prefabricated methods, under PMAY-U so far. In this process, components such as walls, slabs, and beams are fabricated in a factory and then assembled on-site, significantly reducing construction time and improving quality control,” he stated.
Under PMAY-U, a Technology Sub-Mission (TSM) was established to promote the adoption of innovative, sustainable, eco-friendly, energy-efficient, and disaster-resilient building technologies and materials. This initiative has been expanded into the Technology and Innovation Sub-Mission (TISM) under PMAY-U 2.0 to foster innovative construction practices and projects, he added.
The MoS emphasized the importance of fostering new ideas, stating that 54 innovative proven construction technologies were shortlisted globally following the Global Housing Technology Challenge - India (GHTC-India), aimed at identifying and mainstreaming the best available construction technologies worldwide, including prefabricated options.
When asked about the government's strategy to tackle land acquisition and zoning challenges for prefabricated housing projects, particularly in densely populated tribal regions, the MoS clarified that there are no special requirements for land acquisition and zoning regulations concerning prefabricated housing projects in the country, including in such tribal areas.
