Govt sanctions over 2.17 lakh houses for urban poor

New Delhi: The government has sanctioned over 2.17 lakh houses for urban poor in six states, including Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Assam, taking the total tally to about 26 lakh under the Centre's housing scheme.

An official release on Monday said in the latest sanctions, Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has given nod to over 1.20 lakh more houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) to Andhra Pradesh, followed by Uttar Pradesh 41,173, Assam 16,700, Gujarat 15,222, Jharkhand 14,017 and Maharashtra 9,894.

With this, the total houses sanctioned under the scheme increased to over 26.13 lakh with a total investment of around Rs 1.39 lakh crore. Central assistance of Rs 40,597 crore has been approved for construction of these houses.

The 10 states--Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar--account for 82 per cent of the total houses sanctioned so far under PMAY(U).

Andhra Pradesh was far ahead of other states, accounting for 20.71 per cent of the total sanctioned houses.

With the latest sanctions, all states and Union Territories, except Delhi, Chandigarh, Goa and Lakshadweep, have got houses sanctioned under PMAY(U).