Affordable Urban Housing of Odisha - 2012: Build 5,000 Low Cost Houses...!

To meet the growing demand for affordable housing in the state, the Odisha government is planning to build about 5,000 housing units immediately under a new scheme.

"Immediately we plan to take up a project at Gothapatana, on the outskirt of the city. The housing units will be built on 15 to 20 acres of land out of 100 acres identified there ", Mr. Injeti Srinivas, Secretary, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) department told on the sideline of a state level workshop on Affordable Urban Housing of Odisha-2012.

"We will come out with RFP (request for proposal) in 2 to 3 months", he also said.

Under the affordable housing scheme, the state government intends to construct about 20,000 houses annually.

Mr. Srinivas added, such houses will also be built in other cities like Berhampur, Rourkela, and Sambalpur.

 4.1 lakh Low Cost Houses Required..!

He said, there are requirement of 4,10,000 low cost houses. While Rs. 1,680 crore is needed under the Rajiv AwasYojana (RAY) to make Bhubaneswar slum free, the fund requirement to achieve the same objective state-wide is Rs. 15,000 crore.

An official in the HUD department said, there are plans to build nearly 10,000 houses in the city in next 3 years. For identifying the beneficiaries, the government will rope in credible nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Odisha State Housing Board (OSHB) has been mandated as the state level nodal agency for implementing the scheme under the Affordable Urban Housing policy, 2012.

Income Criteria..!

The income criteria laid for EWS (economically weaker section) under the scheme is up to Rs. 7,500 per month (PM). For LIG (low income group) category, the income eligibility ranges from Rs. 7,501 to Rs. 15,000 PM. For LMIG (lower middle income group) it is fixed between Rs. 15,001 and Rs. 20,000 pm. For MIG applicants, their monthly income must be between Rs. 20,001 and Rs. 25,000.

The maximum sale price for housing units to EWS category is at Rs. 3.5 lakhs, LIG Rs. 5.6 lakhs, LMIG Rs. 10.5 lakhs and MIG at Rs. 15.6 lakhs.

The policy has mandated a super built-up area of 350 square feet (sq. ft) for EWS category. The same will be 560 sq.ft , 840 sq.ft and 1,119 sq,ft for LIG, LMIG and MIG groups respectively.

The scheme also envisages creation of 2 types of rental houses. Those for the EWS will be offered for maximum rent of Rs. 1,250 per month. The houses for LIG will be available at Rs. 2,000 per month.

Investment in affordable housing in 8 states..!

The civic agencies concerned will revise the rent from time to time. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sam Sharpe, Country Head, Department for International Development (DFID) said, "in an agreement with Government of India, we are finalizing Rs. 400 crore partnership with the National Housing Bank (NHB) for investment in affordable housing in 8 states".

The states are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan & Jharkhand.

HUD minister Mr. Debi Prasad Mishra , Chief Secretary Mr. B.K. Patnaik and Development Commissioner and additional chief secretary Mr.Jugal Mohapatra also spoke.

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