Govt plans financial aid for contractors to provide temporary homes to labourers at project sites

New Delhi: Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said the government plans to provide some financial assistance to contractors for temporary homes to labourers working on their project sites.

Addressing a four-day 'Bharat Buildcon' international exhibition for building materials here, the minister said the government is also considering to make it mandatory for real estate and construction companies to issue durability certificates for buildings.

The minister also talked about the importance of sustainability to protect the environment and told builders to ensure waste management and water harvesting in their projects.


Khattar said the state governments collect labour cess (1 per cent of contract value) from contractors, mainly for the welfare of construction workers.

He said the government is preparing a scheme to provide "some financial assistance" to those contractors who make "temporary residences" for labourers during the construction period.

The assistance will be provided from the labour cess fund, he said, adding that the scheme will be announced soon.

Khattar pointed out that there have been some cases where buildings were demolished after being declared 'not livable'. Therefore, the ministry is considering to make it mandatory for builders to issue durability certificates.

Till such a move, he asked the industry to start issuing such certificates on its own.

He noted that 70-90 crore square meters are built every year and there is a need to increase the pace of work by using modern technologies like pre-fab.

Khattar also highlighted that the government has brought a policy of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) to allow construction of real estate projects within 500 metre of metros, roads, railways tracks and RRTS (regional rapid transit system) to reduce traffic congestion.

The Minister said the Modi government has increased the infrastructure budget for Rs 12.2 lakh crore for 2026-2027 fiscal as against a mere Rs 2 lakh crore in 2014.

He said the NCR planning board has decided to build four new cities to reduce population pressure on the National capital.

Khattar also noted that the country has 1,155 km of metro rail network currently and another 950 km is being constructed.

Parveen Jain, President, NAREDCO, said the focus on accelerating construction to meet the demands of rapid urbanisation, while ensuring quality, durability, sustainability and affordability, is both timely and essential for India's growth trajectory.

"As the apex body representing the real estate sector, NAREDCO (National Real Estate Development Council ) believes that the adoption of advanced construction technologies, innovative building materials and sustainable practices will be critical to delivering the scale of housing and infrastructure required for a rapidly urbanising nation," he added.