BENGALURU: Under the chief minister’s one lakh housing scheme for urban poor in Bengaluru, announced in 2016, not a single house has been handed over to beneficiaries.
Of the one lakh houses announced, the government has been able to take up the construction of 49,000 houses and of those, only 4,561 units are ready, states the Economic Survey report 2024-25 released by the government. The government is now planning to rope in private builders to take up the construction of the remaining 50,000 houses.
The scheme was announced by the previous Siddaramaiah government in 2016 and was taken up by the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation Ltd (RGHCL). The Economic Survey report stated that the scheme was to be a self-sustaining model for the construction of houses in and around Bengaluru for the economically weaker sections and other eligible poor on government land.
At present, the construction of multi-storeyed buildings (G+3 to S+14) with 48,950 dwelling units has been taken up in five taluks of the Bengaluru Urban district in the first and second phases.
“Around 4,561 houses have been completed, while 4,030 houses are nearing completion, while remaining houses are under different stages of construction, incurring an expenditure of Rs 2,074.68 crore up to the end of December 2024,” says the report. Housing Department sources said they have not handed over any houses and it is expected to be done by May this year.
When V Somanna was housing minister in 2022, the cost of each unit was around Rs 10.5 lakh, including state and central government subsidies. Over and above the subsidies, general category beneficiaries had to pay Rs 5 lakh, while SC/STs Rs 4.2 lakh. But with the cost escalating to Rs 11.20 lakh now, general category beneficiaries have to pay Rs 8.5 lakh and SC/STs Rs 7.70 lakh.
The beneficiaries are now struggling to arrange money for the houses. “Though a large amount is paid through subsidies by the state and central governments, beneficiaries have to pay the remaining amount. They are not getting loans from banks with their low CIBIL scores being one of the main reasons.
The government is trying to get them loans through other means. Around 12,000 people applied for houses and the loan process of 1,800 beneficiaries is expected to be completed sometime,” the source added.
Meanwhile, the government has geared up to construct remaining houses through public-private partnership. Here, government land will be given to private builders who will construct houses. RGHCL sources said they have chosen the Infrastructure Development Corporation Karnataka as technical advisor to prepare the feasibility report on sharing of houses. “We have 400 acres of land at different places in Bengaluru.
Under the PPP model, land will be ours, while builders will do the entire construction. The houses will be shared between us, and IDECK will give recommendations,” sources said.