VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed officials to expedite housing projects to ensure every poor family in the State gets a home, setting an ambitious target of completing 10 lakh houses by March 2026.
During a review meeting with the Housing Department officials at the State Secretariat on Wednesday, he instructed that 3 lakh houses be ready for housewarming ceremonies next month, and an additional 2 lakh by Sankranti. He emphasised categorisation of ongoing projects into A, B and C groups to streamline construction.
Naidu ordered a 15-day survey to identify poor families without houses, and compile a list, assuring allotment of 2 cents of land in urban areas, and 3 cents in rural areas to beneficiaries as promised. He suggested exploring joint housing for large families, and phased funding for NTR Housing projects.
Under PMAY (Urban), PMAY (Rural), and PM Janman, 18,59,504 houses have been sanctioned for AP, with 9,51,351 completed, including 2.81 lakh this year. Another 19,000 houses will be ready by next month.
The government spent `2,013.50 crore on housing last year, with `3,296.58 crore allocated for basic infrastructure in 4,305 layouts where over 50% of construction is complete.
Payments of `919.29 crore for 2,73,709 beneficiaries, including `16.37 crore for 4,647 in Kuppam, are slated for release soon. Additionally, `100 crore for 15,753 PM Janman houses, and `75 crore for 15,582 PMAY (Rural) houses have been approved. However, 1,84,510 PMAY (Urban) beneficiaries have not yet started construction, officials informed.
For TIDCO projects, tenders were called for 4,54,706 houses across 104 urban local bodies in 2018. Of these, 1,77,546 houses—45,848 (300 sq ft), 12,550 (365 sq ft), and 25,172 (430 sq ft)—totaling 83,570, have been handed over to beneficiaries so far.
Another 84,094 TIDCO houses are nearing completion. Naidu’s focus on housing reflects the government’s commitment to uplifting the poor through robust infrastructure development.