The Government of India, under the Global Housing Technology Challenge, has sanctioned construction of 1,152 tenements with an area of 413 sq ft each at Perumbakkam in Chennai at a total cost of ₹116.27 crore.
The project will include social amenities like a ration shop, two anganwadi centres, a library, a milk booth and six shops. The project will also have a sewage treatment plant and an electrical substation. The work will be completed within 15 months, said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami while speaking at the Global Housing Technology Challenge - India Laying Foundation Stone Project.
The technology will ensure eco-friendly construction fit for diverse climatic quality standards and disaster-proof houses. The tenements will be allotted to the urban poor/slum families living on the banks of waterways and other objectionable lands in Chennai, he said.
Tamil Nadu is the most urbanised State in the country where 48.45 per cent of the total population live in urban areas in which 14.63 lakh families live in the urban slums. To eradicate the difficulties faced by the urban slum families, former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had unveiled Tamil Nadu Vision 2023 that envisaged 'Slum Free Cities in Tamil Nadu by 2023.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) Gramin, the unit cost per house is ₹1.20 lakh that includes ₹72,000 from the Centre and ₹48,000 from the State Government. Additionally, the State Government provides a grant of ₹50,000 towards reinforced cement concrete roofing. In addition, ₹23,000 in wages under NREGA is given to each beneficiary for construction of toilets.
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“When I reviewed the scheme recently, I found that the present unit cost is not sufficient for the poorest of the poor to construct a house due to increase in prices and loss of livelihood due to Covid-19. I, therefore, sanctioned ₹70,000 additionally to each house, increasing the unit cost from ₹1.70 lakh to ₹2.40 lakh costing the State Government ₹1,805 crore for constructing 2.5 lakh houses,” he said.
Under the PMAY Urban, sanction has been accorded to construct 1,62,720 storeyed tenements and 3,42,769 individual houses at a total cost of ₹27,000 crore, he said.