Since 2014, the Central government has undertaken transformational programmatic interventions to develop urban infrastructure and strengthen urban governance with a strong focus on pro-poor welfare, said Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs on Friday.

Elaborating on the scale of urban transformation in recent years, Minister Puri said that since 2014, Rs 18.07 lakh crore has been invested in urban development. This is a staggering 12-fold increase in investments compared to 2004-14, he stressed.

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Referring to the example of PMAY (U), he noted that 1.18 crore houses have been approved under the scheme which is around 9 times of earlier 13.46 lakh houses under JnNURM and RAY.

While addressing the media, Puri said that 2023 was a standout year for urban governance in India.

He said different sections of society have benefited tremendously from our interventions this year – be it street vendors; informal urban workers; women and the girl child; low-income and middle-income families seeking the dignity of a house, tap water connections, sanitation, and other basic services.

Speaking further on the milestones achieved in 2023, the Minister mentioned the extension of National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD) Laws (Special Provisions) Second Act, 2011 until 31 December 2026, thus exempting certain JJ clusters from punitive action and allowing adequate time for reforms and inclusive measures.

He further mentioned the PM SVANidhi scheme crossing milestone and mission target of 50 lakh beneficiaries and also the milestone of over Rs 10,000 crores disbursed.

“Under PMAY-U, we completed the construction of nearly 12 lakh houses this year, averaging a delivery of 1 lakh houses each month,” he said.

Under Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban 2.0, he said, we remediated 879 lakh metric tonnes of waste, cleared 336 dumpsites, and reclaimed 3,708 acres of land.

Over 68 CBG plants were approved for effective resource recovery from organic waste under the GOBARdhan scheme, he added.

Under the AMRUT mission, we exceeded the targets for water tap connections and sewer connections this year. “There are now 1.87 crore water tap connections and 1.47 sewer connections, exceeding the targets of 1.39 crore and 1.45 crore respectively,” he said.

Noting the work done by the government towards improving Urban Mobility, minister Puri said that the Metro systems across the country achieved the landmark of crossing 1 crore daily ridership.

Delhi Metro itself witnessed a daily ridership of over 72 lakh passengers in August 2023.

He also mentioned the Namo Bharat train, India’s first rapid rail service inaugurated by PM Modi, and the PM–eBus Sewa scheme to augment bus operations by deploying 10,000 electric buses.