New Delhi , January 1: All-round work is being done for 'Housing for All' is bringing a positive change in the lives of crores of poor and middle-class families, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Light House projects (LHPs) at six sites across six States, through video conference.

"Getting the key of a house is not just getting possession of a dwelling unit but it opens doors of dignity, confidence, safe future, new identity and expanding possibilities. All-round work that is being done for 'Housing for All' is bringing a positive change in the lives of crores of poor and middle-class families," Prime Minister Modi said.

At the event, he also announced the winners under Affordable Sustainable Housing Accelerators - India (ASHA-India) and gave annual awards for excellence in implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U) Mission.

The Prime Minister also released a certification course on innovative construction technologies named NAVARITIH (New, Affordable, Validated, Research Innovation Technologies for Indian Housing).

He further spoke about benefits for the middle classes, saying that they were getting rebates on home loan interest.

"A special fund of Rs 25,000 crores, created for incomplete housing projects, will also help the middle class. Measures like RERA have brought back the trust of the home owners and given them confidence that they will not be cheated out of their hard earned money. There are 60 thousand projects registered under RERA and thousands of grievances have been redressed under the law," he said.

"The government is working with the industry and other investors to provide housing with fair rents to workers who come to work from various states to different states. Effort is to provide them fair rent dwellings in the vicinity of their workplace," the Prime Minister said.

He further recounted measures like reduction of tax on cheap houses from 8 to 1 percent, GST reduction from 12 to 5 per cent, recognising the sector as infrastructure for making it eligible for cheap loans have taken our ranking for construction permit from 185 to 27.

Stating that over 2 crore housing units have been constructed in rural India, he said that effort will be on to accelerate the speed of rural housing this year. "Today is the day to move forward with new energy, to prove new resolutions and today the country is getting new technology to build houses for the poor, middle class. Houses are called light house projects in technical language but these 6 projects are really like lighthouses showing a new direction to the housing sector in the country."

The Light House Projects (LHPs), being set up in six states across the country, gives a new direction to housing projects in the country and has strengthened cooperative federalism, he said, adding that the country is getting new technology for the construction of houses for the poor and the middle class.

The LHPs are being constructed at Indore, Rajkot, Chennai, Ranchi, Agartala and Lucknow, comprising about 1,000 houses at each location along with allied infrastructure facilities.

The Prime Minister further remarked that the ASHA-India program was being run to promote research and startups related to modern housing technology within the country.

Speaking about the PM Awas Yojna, he said "In the PM Awas Yojna, construction's focus is both on innovation and implementation as per the local needs and expectations of the home-owners. It is a complete package as every unit is equipped with electricity-water-gas connection. Transparency is being ensured through the technologies like geo-tagging and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to the beneficiaries."

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were present on the occasion.

'Housing for All' bringing positive change in lives of poor, middle-class families: PM Modi

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