VIJAYAWADA: Housing Minister Ch Sri Ranganatha Raju has asserted that the government would distribute house site pattas to the poor by Ugadi. The government has so far completed the selection of 28 lakh beneficiaries 21 lakh for giving house pattas and 7 lakh for constructed houses. The verification was done by the volunteers at the village secretariats.
“The chief minister is giving top priority to housing-for-all scheme, which is part of Navaratnalu. As per the assurance given by the Chief Minister, the government will construct 25 lakh houses in the coming four years,” he said. Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat near here on Friday, the minister said, “The Revenue Minister and I have toured nine districts and a review meeting will be held in Nellore. The target is to get 12 lakh houses sanctioned by the Centre before March 31, 2020.”
He said the CM was keen on distributing house pattas to the poor by Ugadi and the works would be completed before the deadline.The Centre has sanctioned Rs 11,302 crore and the State government Rs 4,742 crore for constructing houses for the poor. Land acquisition and landfilling works in the existing government lands are being held on a fast-track mode in all districts.
“While one-and-half cent will be given for construction of house for each beneficiary in rural areas, one cent will be provided in urban areas. The construction of houses will start in January,” he added. Explaining the budget details of the project, he said Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 70,000 crore would be spent and about Rs 2 lakh crore revenue would be created in the State.
‘Fourth phase of reverse tendering for housing saves Rs 48 cr’
Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) minister Botcha Satyanarayana issued a statement that reverse tendering for 8,448 housing units in Krishna, Guntur and Prasakam districts helped in saving Rs 48 crore. According to the statement on Friday, APTIDCO held reverse bidding with initial benchmark value of Rs 431.62 crore. “In the bidding, Inderjit Mehta Constructions Pvt Ltd quoted the lowest bid at Rs 384.14 crore, thus resulting in a saving of Rs 48 crore. With the fourth phase of revere tendering, Rs 303.24 crore public money has been salvaged,” the minister said in the statement.
Centre sanctions 3,70,255 houses to AP
The minister informed that 3,70,225 houses were sanctioned to the State by the Centre through the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) and with this, the total number of houses sanctioned to AP stood at 7,53,527. “This is highest by any State in the country,” he informed