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Only 16 lakh houses handed over of 73 lakh+ houses sanctioned

01 Mar 2019

India needs to build affordable homes faster—and technology is the only solution!

To meet its target of Housing for All—constructing 1.2 crore affordable houses—by 2022 by fast-tracking construction, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the Global Housing Technology Challenge, under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U). Commenting on the challenge, Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, says, “We are trying to cut construction time with whatever is best available globally; we would like to have it in India.” (See exclusive interview on www.ConstructionWorld.in)

So far, there have been over 73 lakh houses sanctioned under PMAY, according to Mishra. “Of this, 39 lakh plus houses have already been grounded and 16 lakh plus have already been completed and handed over.”

Meanwhile, Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Property Consultants, is less enthused about the progress under PMAY. “As per data from the Ministry of Housing Affairs (MoHA), the total estimated investment under PMAY as on January 2019 is Rs 3.87 lakh crore, of which about 27 per cent has been sanctioned by the Central Government, while only 32 per cent of the sanctioned amount has been released so far,” he points out. “The pace of development is also significantly slow. According to MoHA data, only 39 per cent of the total of 68.85 lakh homes that were sanctioned under PMAY as in January 2019 are actually completed or occupied.” Puri believes this deficit is a little too large to ignore.

That said, while the selection of construction technologies should satisfy aspects such as ease of construction and lower cost, it is equally important to ensure quality.

- SERAPHINA D’SOUZA