States to get reins of ‘Housing for All’ scheme

In a move to pave the way for smooth implementation of NDA government’s ‘Housing For All’ scheme, the Centre has proposed to decentralise the programme by empowering every state government in the planning and decision making process.

“Empowering states is the key to the success of Housing For All”, said Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Joint Secretary, Ministry for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation at Real Estate Conference titled ‘Stepping Up The Game’ organised by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), leading global body for setting standards in real estate earlier this week.

The government is also set to introduce global standards for building and construction process and facilitate easier documentation and approval procedures for projects falling under Housing For All.

“There is huge mismatch of housing demand and supply in India. At this point, India is looking at building homes under affordable housing to cater to this demand. We believe the government along with the private sector should follow international best practices for construction of these houses under the scheme to maintain good construction quality and ensure timely completion of such projects,” Sachin Sandhir, Global MD, Emerging Business, RICS said. 

The Housing Ministry is likely to hold a meeting with the Environment Ministry next week to discuss ways to expedite clearances to housing projects falling under this scheme.

“Skill upgradation will play a key role and government along with private sector will work to train and upgrade skills in real estate and construction sector,” Mishra added.

The Union Cabinet has set aside Rs 48,000 crore for developing 100 smart cities across 21 districts over the next five years. As part of this initiative, the Cabinet has also set aside Rs 50,000 crore for rejuvenation of 500 cities under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

The government has also initiated preliminary talks with the Indian Banking Association (IBA) for setting new guidelines for the projects, upon meeting, which the loan disbursals would come through easily.

“Providing low cost financing and fast disbursals of fund for completion of the scheme will play a key role in timely execution of the project,” Devina Ghildial, Managing Director, RICS, South Asia said.