35 lakh houses built under Housing for All scheme: Centre

The Centre on Thursday said a total of 35 lakh houses have delivered to beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY-Urban) so far while 65 lakh houses are currently under construction.

Union Housing and Urban Affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri in his addressing a webinar to mark the 5th anniversary of PMAY (U), Smart Cities Mission (SCM) and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), said that an estimated 3.65 crore jobs would be generated in the construction of all sanctioned houses under the mission and of these, about 1.65 crore jobs would have already been generated.

As per the centrally sponsored PMAY-Housing For All scheme, the government aims to build 1.12 crore houses in urban areas by 2022.

According to the ministry, the houses built under PMAY(U) and earlier schemes of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) have served as a boon in the fight against COVID-19.

Presently more than 22,000 houses are being dedicatedly used as COVID-19 facility units in various states and Union Territories, Puri said.

Talking about another Mission - AMRUT, the minister said the ministry has so far provided 79 lakh household water tap connections and 45 lakh sewer connections in the country.

On Smart Cities Mission programme, total of 5,151 projects worth over Rs 2 lakh crore were identified in 100 smart cities.

"So far, the mission has tendered around 4,700 projects worth Rs 1,66,000 crore which is about 81 per cent of the total projects proposed," the Minister said.