Budget 2024: Sitharaman Announces 100 'Haats', Transit Oriented Development For 14 Cities

In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a comprehensive plan for urban development including developing cities as well as providing better business facilities for street vendors.

Hyderabad: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced plans for developing cities as 'growth hubs' and 'Transit Oriented Development' initiative for 14 cities with a population of more than 30 lakh.

This apart, the Budget envisions better business environment and facilities for the street vendors in urban areas wherein Indian Street Market will be set up under the PM SVANidhi Scheme.

In her Budget speech, Sitharaman announced a new scheme to support the development of 100 weekly ‘haats’ or street food hubs in select cities for the next five years. This scheme, which has been introduced on the success of the PM Svanidhi Scheme, aims at bringing in a transformative change in the lives of the street vendors by providing spaces for businesses.

Street vendors comprise those selling fruits, vegetables, cooked food, garments and other items on the roads. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs provides an assistance of Rs 10,000 as working capital loan to street vendors in urban areas to start their own businesses.

The Finance Minister said that the government will formulate Transit Oriented Development plans and strategies to implement and finance 14 large cities. She said that the government will work together with states to help cities to develop as 'growth hubs'. "This will be done through economic and transit planning for orderly development of peri-urban areas," she said.

For creative brownfield redevelopment of existing cities, the Centre will devise a framework for policies, regulations and market-based mechanisms.

The Finance Minister also unveiled an ambitious plan of providing housing to one crore urban poor and middle-class families under the PM Awas Yojana Urban 2.0 with an investment of 10 lakh crore. This including the central assistance of Rs 2.2 lakh crore, in next five years.

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