Venkaiah Naidu

The scale of housing activity has picked up in the three years of the Narendra Modi government, the minister said while participating in a foundation laying ceremony for 1,09,000 houses under the Yojna in Andhra Pradesh's Vijaywada town.

The approved investment is higher by about 250 per cent over Rs 1.18 lakh crore okayed under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) of the UPA government between 2004 and 2014, he said.

The three-member panel will consult the regional parties and other stakeholders on an NDA candidate. "The committee's mandate is to consult leaders of all political parties for the presidential poll and try to evolve a consensus," a BJP statement said.

"World economy is slowing down. The US' growth rate is 3 percent. In India, it is around seven plus percent," he said.

Speaking to reporters here, Naidu also dismissed the Congress' demand that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan step down from his post in view of the deaths of five protesting farmers in police firing.

The project will enhance the beauty of the Jaipur city, the Urban Development minister said.

Reviewing programmes of the urban development department here, Naidu also appreciated Das for approving 60,916 applications out of 2.55 lakh houses under PMSAY with GEO tagging of 32,000 houses.

The Urban Development Minister, who held a meeting with the chief minister and senior officials, handed over release order to the tune Rs 1,263 crore for different projects in the state.

Speaking at a function organised by Swarna Bharat Trust, Hyderabad chapter here, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting also said India aims to skill 402 million people by 2022. Of these, at least 110 million workers are required in over 25 select sectors such as textiles, automobiles, construction, banking and retail.

Naidu, the Information and Broadcasting Minister, stated this while assuring his Ministry's support to issues raised by the South Indian Film Chambers of Commerce (SIFCC) at a meeting with him here.

Naidu said the Centre has done whatever it could and now it was for the state governments to take forward its Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) scheme to provide housing to all the poor people in urban areas by 2022.

"Arunachal Pradesh is totally part and parcel of India. China has no business to name any of the district. I don't know why they have taken this step," Naidu, the Information and Broadcasting Minister, told a press conference here.

In the recent panchayat elections in Odisha, the BJP had secured 297 zilla parishad seats while the Congress, the main opposition party, had won just 60 zilla parishad seats.

The Congress was inventing issues to cover up their failures and to prevent the BJP from celebrating its victory, Naidu told reporters here.

Addressing the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting a day before the session ends, Modi also pitched for pushing reform and development agenda, asserting that there is a "positive" public mood in the favour of the ruling dispensation as it completes its third anniversary the next month.

The monthly home loan installment (EMIs) will soon come down by almost Rs 2000 if your first home falls in a city or town under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and if you fall in the income bracket of Rs 12-18 lakh.

With exit polls projecting a good show by the saffron party, including in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh where it is projected to emerge as the single largest party, its highest decision-making body is likely to take stock of the situation and chalk out future strategy.

Naidu said inflation has been brought down to its lowest and India has become an attractive destination for investors under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the country now having the "highest" foreign exchange reserves.