Transformational interventions undertaken to develop urban infrastructure and strengthen urban governance, since 2014: Hardeep S Puri

Investment in Urban development witnesses huge increase compared to 2004-14: Hardeep S Puri

Metro systems across country achieve landmark of crossing 1 crore daily ridership: Hardeep S Puri

New Delhi, Jan 12: “2023 was a standout year for urban governance in India”, said Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas today. While addressing the media at a press conference here, Puri said that since 2014, the Government has undertaken transformational programmatic interventions to develop urban infrastructure and strengthen urban governance, with a strong focus on pro-poor welfare.

The Minister said that different sections of society have benefitted tremendously from our interventions this year – be it street vendors; informal urban workers; women and the girl child; low-income and middle-income families seeking the dignity of a house, tap water connections, sanitation, and other basic services.

Elaborating on the scale of urban transformation in recent years, the Minister said that the since 2014, Rs. 18.07 lakh crores have been invested in urban development. This is a staggering 12-fold increase in investments compared to 2004-14, he stressed. Referring to the example of PMAY (U), he noted that 1.18 crore houses have been approved under the scheme which is around 9 times of earlier 13.46 lakh houses under JnNURM and RAY.

Speaking on the milestones achieved in year 2023, the Minister mentioned about the extension of National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD) Laws (Special Provisions) Second Act, 2011 until 31 December 2026, thus exempting certain JJ clusters from punitive action and allowing adequate time for reforms and inclusive measures.He further said that under the PM SVANidhi scheme, we crossed the milestone and mission target of 50 lakh beneficiaries (the current number stands at 58.89 lakh beneficiaries) and we also crossed the milestone of more than Rs. 10,000 crores disbursed.“Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U), we completed the construction ofnearly 12 lakh houses this year (averaging a delivery of 1 lakh houses each month)”, he said.  Under Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban 2.0, he said, we remediated 879 lakh metric tonnes of waste, cleared 336 dumpsites, and reclaimed 3,708 acres of land. Over 68 CBG plants were approved for effective resource recovery from organic waste under the GOBARdhan scheme.

Puri noted that under the AMRUT mission, we exceeded the targets for water tap connections and sewer connections this year. “There are now 1.87 crore water tap connections (original target: 1.39 crores) and 1.47 sewer connections (original target: 1.45 crores)”, he said.

Noting the work done by Government  towards improving Urban Mobility, Puri said that the Metro systems across the country achieved the landmark of crossing 1 crore daily ridership. Delhi Metro itself witnessed daily ridership in excess of 72 lakh passengers in August 2023. He also mentioned about the Namo Bharat train, India’s first rapid rail service inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on 20 October 2023;and PM–eBus Sewa scheme, launched on 16 August 2023 with the aim of augmenting bus operations by deploying 10,000 electric buses.

A comparative look at the progress made