Investments in urban development see huge jump since 2014, says Union Minister Hardeep Singh

Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Hardeep Singh Puri said that since 2014, the Central Government has undertaken transformational programmatic interventions to develop urban infrastructure with a strong focus on pro-poor welfare. During this period, there is a staggering 12-fold increase in investments in urban development compared to 2004-14, according to the Minister.

New Delhi : Asserting that 2023 was a standout year for urban governance in India, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said that all the components of urban sector development have registered a huge progress last year.

Referring to the completion of the house under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Puri said that it has marked 11.92 lakhs growth. “From a figure of 67.10 lakhs house completed till December 2022, the number went up to 79.02 lakhs house that has been completed till December 2023,” Puri said, addressing a media conference on Friday.

“Since 2014, the Government has undertaken transformational programmatic interventions to develop urban infrastructure and strengthen urban governance, with a strong focus on pro-poor welfare. Different sections of society have benefited tremendously from our interventions this year – be it street vendors; informal urban workers; women and the girl child; low-income and middle-income families seeking the dignity of a house, tap water connections, sanitation, and other basic services,” said Puri while giving statistics related to urban landscape transformation from 2014-2023.

Elaborating on the scale of urban transformation in recent years, the Minister said that since 2014, Rs 18.07 lakh crores have been invested in urban development. “This is a staggering 12-fold increase in investments compared to 2004-14. A total of 1.18 crore houses have been approved under the PMAY (U) scheme which is around 9 times of earlier 13.46 lakh houses under JnNURM and RAY,” claimed Puri.

The Minister also mentioned about the extension of National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD) Laws (Special Provisions) Second Act, 2011 until December 31, 2026, thus exempting certain Jhuggi - Jhopri (JJ) clusters from punitive action and allowing adequate time for reforms and inclusive measures.

“Under the PM SVANidhi scheme, we crossed the milestone and mission target of 50 lakh beneficiaries (the current number stands at 58.89 lakh beneficiaries) and we also crossed the milestone of more than Rs 10,000 crores disbursed,” he said.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U), my ministry has completed the construction of nearly 12 lakh houses this year (averaging a delivery of 1 lakh houses each month), he said.

“Under Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban 2.0, we remediated 879 lakh metric tonnes of waste, cleared 336 dumpsites, and reclaimed 3,708 acres of land. Over 68 CBG plants were approved for effective resource recovery from organic waste under the GOBARdhan scheme,” Puri said.

Puri noted that under the AMRUT mission, his ministry exceeded the targets for water tap connections and sewer connections this year. “There are now 1.87 crore water tap connections (original target: 1.39 crores) and 1.47 sewer connections (original target: 1.45 crores)”, he said.

Emphasising the work done by his Government towards improving urban mobility, Puri said that the metro systems across the country achieved the landmark of crossing 1 crore daily ridership. “Delhi Metro itself witnessed daily ridership in excess of 72 lakh passengers in August 2023,” he said.

Referring to the PM–eBus sewa scheme launched on 16 August 2023, Puri said that tender has been floated and bids calling will be completed by this month. “Once the process is completed, the rest will follow,” he said. The PM–eBus sewa scheme aims to augment bus operations by deploying 10,000 electric buses in cities with a population of more than 300,000.

Talking about the smart city mission Puri said that as many as 266 projects have been completed in the last one year. All the projects of smart city mission will be completed by this year, he said.

“A total of 7,744 projects had been completed till December 2022 which then went upto 8,010 in 2023 and registered completion of 266 in the last one year,” Puri stated.