Government readies model to use PSU surplus land for low-cost homes

NEW DELHI: The government is considering a plan to acquire surplus land parcels of public sector enterprises to develop housing projects and townships under the Prime Minister’s affordable housing scheme for weaker sections of society that aims to achieve housing for all by 2022, said Durga Shankar Mishra, secretary, ministry of housing and urban affairs.

The government is in consultation with the state governments and Union Territories to persuade states to acquire available land of public sector enterprises for this purpose, he said at NAREDCO’s national real estate convention.

In addition to this, the government is looking to bring in the most advanced construction technologies across the world so that construction of these affordable houses is completed in quick time.

Mishra assured realty developers at the convention that they would not face inconveniences in terms of approvals for their construction plans after March 2018, as online facilities are being worked out.

At the convention, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal promised the construction and real estate industry that all their legitimate glitches would be addressed, whether these relate to the goods & services tax and other procedural fronts.

He invited the builders to come forward and cooperate with the government to help it achieve its objectives on many fronts, including that of affordable housing.