GDA to complete 1,288 PM Awas Yojana flats by March 2023; fund crunch delays EWS projects

Ghaziabad District Magistrate Rakesh Kumar Singh on August 19 reviewed the under-construction PM Awas Yojana projects and asked the officials to get the projects completed within the given timeline.

The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) will complete 1,288 affordable housing flats under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) by March next year, officials aware of the development told Moneycontrol. These flats are in the Dasna and Madhuban Bapudham areas of the district.

"Of these 1,288 flats, as many as 432 are under construction in Dasna while 856 are in Madhuban Bapudham. While all the flats of Madhuban Bapudham have been allotted, 206 flats have been allotted so far in Dasna," sources said.

Apart from these two projects, the authority is building 528 flats in Niwari (Niwadi) of which 184 have been completed, while 384 are under construction. A total of 480 flats are under construction in Noor Nagar and 720 are under construction in Pratap Vihar.

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"A total of 1,200 flats will be built in Pratap Vihar. Of this, the tender for 720 has been completed, while the tender for 480 flats is in the final stage. At present, 624 flats are under-construction in Pratap Vihar. The projects in Niwari, Noor Nagar and Pratap Vihar are likely to be completed by March 2024. The government has given us a deadline of December 2024. These flats are yet to be allotted," they said.

Ghaziabad District Magistrate Rakesh Kumar Singh on August 19 reviewed the under construction PM Awas Yojana projects and asked the officials to get the projects completed within the given timeline.

Also Read: Centre approves construction of 1.07 lakh houses in 5 states under PMAY(U)

When asked about the projects missing their 2021 deadline, sources said that lack of funds has been a key reason behind the delays. "The total cost for these five projects is around Rs 176 crore. We have received Rs 19.28 crore so far from the state and the central government," they said, without divulging the share of the state and central governments.

They also said that the work is also slow in Noor Nagar as it's a low-lying area and the GDA is carrying out the filling work as well.

While the old rate of a flat was Rs 4.5 lakh, the revised rate is Rs 6 lakh each. "In both the cases, the Centre's share is Rs 1.5 lakh, the state government's share is Rs one lakh and the rest is to be borne by the allottees," they said.

Also Read: 61 lakh 'pucca' houses made under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana: Puri to Lok Sabha

The sources said the cost of each unit under the PMAY comes around Rs 8 to 10 lakh including the land cost, and the authority will have to bear any additional burden.

These are EWS flats meant for the economically weaker section with an annual income of not more than Rs 3 lakh. The size of the flats is around 22.67 square metres.

Also Read: PMAY-U and challenges faced by government in its implementation

The Housing for All by 2022 initiative was launched by the Narendra Modi government within five months of assuming office. It’s all about ensuring a home for every Indian by 2022. To boost affordable housing and achieve the vision of Housing for all by 2022, the government (Central and State) have undertaken several initiatives, such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) that aims to build one crore homes in urban and rural India by 2022. The Union Cabinet on August 11 approved the continuation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) till December 2024, a government statement said. In 2017, the original projected demand was 100 lakh houses. Against this demand, 102 lakh houses have been grounded or under construction, the statement had said.

"Further, out of these, 62 lakh houses have been completed. Out of the total sanctioned 123 lakh houses, the proposals of 40 lakh houses were received late (during last 2 years of scheme) from the states/UTs, which require another two years to complete them," the government had said in the statement.