Housing ministry plans to allow projects in villages

Due to unavailability of sufficient land in mega cities for construction of new housing projects, the government is considering allowing urban housing projects in peripheral villages. Besides, the land price is very high in developed cities, leading to higher cost of projects which hits the affordability factor, the official said.

The housing and urban affairs ministry plans to allow housing projects in villages close to mega cities, in a bid to give momentum to the Centre’s flagship housing programme, a senior official has said.
The proposed plan is expected to give a momentum to the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). The housing ministry aims to provide houses to all urban poor by 2022. The shortage of houses is pegged at around 1.2 crore in 4,041 statutory urban local bodies in the country.

According to the official, the initiative will also bring down the congestion level in the cities and make houses available for low-paid migrant work force who look for rental accommodation in nearby villages of large urban centres and the planned housing projects will provide people better living conditions.