AP govt allocates Rs 90K crore to construct 30 L houses for poor

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to spend a whopping Rs 90,000 Crore to construct 30 lakh houses for the poor in the state.

Under ‘Pedalandariki Illu’ scheme, the government will build 30 lakh houses for the houseless poor by 2024. During his 3,000 km padayatra, Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy had promised to provide housing to poor people of the state.

It was estimated that around 25 lakh houses will be constructed. However, considering the original requirement, the Chief Minister has now ensured to provide about 30 lakh houses for all the eligible houseless poor of the state.

The mammoth housing for all scheme would be undertaken in two phases starting from August 26. The first phase will be completed by 2021 and the second phase of work would be completed by 2023.

“The government has decided to first provide the house sites to the beneficiaries. Therefore, we have acquired 44,000 acres of land, both from the government and private persons. More than Rs 7,000 Crore amount has already been spent. We are currently in the process of providing infrastructure like land leveling, approach roads, electricity, water, etc. at about 15,000 layouts. We would like to launch the housing programme from August 26, and it will be done in two phases,” said Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary, and Housing Department.

Each house would cost Rs 2.5 lakhs. All these will be individual houses measuring 288 sq ft to 300 sq ft each. They will be constructed using energy-efficient practices. As a result, the temperature inside these houses will be 3-4 degrees less compared to the outside temperature. “We have tied up with BEE and GOI in this regard,” he said.

Despite several challenges including the pandemic, the state government is committed to allocating Rs 90,000 Crore to complete this prestigious project.

Out of the total allocation, Rs 75,000 Crore would go for building the houses and Rs 15,000 Crore would be spent on land acquisition and creating infrastructure facilities at the house sites. A total of 44,000 acres of land has already been acquired for this purpose and Rs 7,000 Crore has been spent so far.

Highlights of the AP Housing for all programme

Construction of 30 lakh houses will take place in 2 phases. 15 lakh houses to be built in the first phase and the rest of the 15 lakh houses in the second phase.

The government has finalized the supply rate of cement at Rs 235 per bag (OPC) and Rs 225 (PPC) whereas the local market rate is Rs 360 per bag. EOI has been invited at the state level in respect of other materials viz steel, electrical and sanitary material and other building materials and empanelment of reputed agencies is being done by state level committee.

The government decided to supply sand free of cost to the beneficiaries for the construction of houses. And transportation charges are to be borne by the beneficiary.

Government is committed to providing infrastructure facilities like water supply, electricity, approach roads, internal roads and drains and other social infrastructure as per requirement in all the YSR Jagananna Colonies.

The government decided to integrate the housing department with village or ward secretariats for better delivery of services at the doorstep.

All the houses will be geotagged before the commencement of works and also at various stages for smooth implementation of the programme