The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced several big schemes on Friday. This also includes approving the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0. Under this scheme, 3 crore new houses will be built at a cost of Rs 3,60,000 crore. Apart from this, the Cabinet has approved eight new line projects in Indian Railways.
Giving information, Vaishnav said that in the last 10 years, 4 crore houses have brought a big social change through the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. There has been detailed discussion for the implementation of 3 crore more new houses, this was one of the early promises of PM Modi. The budget provision for this will be Rs 3,60,000 crore. 2 crore houses will be in rural areas and 1 crore houses will be in urban areas.
According to the scheme, financial assistance will be provided to 1 lakh urban poor and middle class families in 5 years.
The Cabinet has announced eight railway projects to provide better connectivity, ease travel, reduce logistics costs, reduce oil imports and reduce CO2 emissions. The total estimated cost of the projects is Rs 24,657 crore (approximately) and will be completed by 2030-31. A large number of people will also get employment during the construction of the projects.
The Cabinet informed that these projects are part of the PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity, made possible through integrated planning and will provide seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods and services. The 8 projects covering 14 districts of seven states i.e. Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Telangana and West Bengal will expand the existing network of Indian Railways by 900 km. With these projects, 64 new stations will be constructed, providing better connectivity to six (6) aspirational districts (East Singhbhum, Bhadadri Kothagudem, Malkangiri, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Rayagada), about 510 villages and about 40 lakh population.