India 2018

Housing 309
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Housing
THE erstwhile Ministry of Urban Development and Ministry of Housing
and Urban Poverty Alleviation have been merged from July 6, 2017 to
constitute the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The new ministry is
mandated to formulate and administer various policy measures for holistic
urban development aimed at improving quality of urban life by addressing
issues related inter-alia to urban infrastructure and efficient governance.
Urbanization is one of the important realities of the present times. As
per census 2011, urban India comprises 7,933 cities and towns of different
population sizes and total population of 377.16 million, which is the second
largest in the world. The urban system has registered an extraordinary
expansion in its base over the 2001–11 decade, and this trend is expected to
continue. An estimated 180 million rural people live next to India’s 70 largest
urban centres, a number that will increase to about 210 million by 2030
(McKinsey Global Institute, 2010). In recent decades, the pattern of India’s
urbanization has undergone an important shift which is characterised by :(i)
increasing numbers and rising population share of metropolitan cities, and
(ii) an unprecedented increase in the numbers and population of census
towns whose share in urban population has risen to 14.5 per cent from 7.6
per cent in 2001.
Urbanization has brought in an important shift in the structure of the
Indian economy whereby 60 per cent of the country’s gross domestic
product is estimated to accrue in cities. At the same time, urbanization
presents significant challenges, largely in the form of demand-supply gaps
in housing, infrastructure and services. Urban governance and fiscal systems
have also tended to lag behind in adjusting to the complexities that the
present day urbanization is associated with. In the backdrop of these
challenges, a range of initiatives has been designed to simultaneously tap the
vast opportunities and potential of urbanization. Smart Cities Mission,
Housing for All, Swachh Bharat Mission, AMRUT, HRIDAY are few initiatives.
Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojana - Housing for All (Urban) Mission
To facilitate housing for all by 2022, the Government of India launched the PMAY-
Housing for All (Urban) Mission in 2015. The Mission targets urban poor, living
in slums and others. It envisages Government interventions for different
segments of urban poor as follows: a) slum rehabilitation: redevelopment of
slums with participation of private developers using land as a resource - slum
rehabilitation grant of 1 lakh per house on an average for all eligible slum
dwellers in all such projects; b) promotion of affordable housing for weaker
section through credit linked subsidy: the interest rate subvention at 6.5 per
cent for both EWS/LIG categories so that interest payable at present is less than