Ministers say Andhra government committed to complete housing scheme on time 

VIJAYAWADA: The State government is committed to complete the housing scheme, under which 28.30 lakh houses will be constructed for the eligible beneficiaries at a cost of Rs 1,08,553 crore by 2023.Speaking to the media on Thursday, Minister for Housing Ch Sri Ranganatha Raju said in the first phase 15,60,227 houses were under construction and in the second phase 12.70 lakh houses will be constructed. “About Rs 1,200 crore will be spent on drinking water and Rs 32,909 crore for infrastructure facilities like roads, power and drainage,’’ he added.

Further, the minister said that a Joint Collector was assigned to each district to oversee the housing initiative and similarly a special officer at mandal level was assigned to monitor works at each layout. He stated that the government has been supplying sand free of cost for the project.

Meanwhile, addressing a separate press conference, Minister for Municipal Administration Botcha Satyanarayana said the State government is constructing houses in 340 sq.ft. where each house costs Rs  1.80 lakh in addition to the infrastructure facilities. However, the previous government had constructed houses in just 224 sq.ft. where each unit costs Rs 1.5 lakh without any infrastructure facilities. 

Referring to TIDCO housing, Botcha said the government approved construction of 2.62 lakh houses, and soon around 90,000 houses will be distributed to the beneficiaries. The minister said earlier 300 sq.ft. TIDCO houses were given for Rs 2.65 lakh each whereas the YSRC government is giving it for 
just Rs 1.