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The government is planning to further extend its deadline to meet the target under ‘.housing for all‘ initiative for rural India for three months till December 2023, a senior official told ET.
The official said the Ministry of Rural Development is in talks with states to expedite relevant processes and help them complete construction of houses faster. If implemented, this would be a significant achievement for the Modi government ahead of the 2024 general elections.
As part of this initiative, a revised deadline for construction of 29.5 million houses Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural) was fixed by March 2024. The initial plan to close it by 2022 was disrupted by the sudden outbreak of Covid in 2020.
The official said that so far 28.6 million houses have been sanctioned by the Centre, of which 22.1 million have been built in states and union territories. The Ministry of Rural Development is consolidating the latest action plan on this.
The ministry had set a construction target of 5.20 million houses for FY23, while actual construction was 4.24 million a year ago. At least 38.5 lakh houses have been completed in this financial year till March 22. Officials are confident that the FY23 target will be achieved, as construction completion reporting usually picks up in the last two weeks of the financial year.
Under PMAY-G, the Center bears 60% of the construction cost in most states, while state governments pitch in with the rest. However, the Centre’s contribution goes up to 90% for north-eastern and hilly states and 100% for union territories.
The Center has increased its outlay for PMAY-G from the budget estimate of Rs 20,000 crore in the Revised Estimates for FY23 to Rs 48,422 crore to give a fresh impetus to the pace of housing construction.
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