New Delhi: The target of constructing one crore houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) can be achieved by 2020-end, two years before the deadline, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday. The NDA government has spent 554 per cent more in five years than the UPA government had in 10 years on urban development projects, the housing and urban affairs minister said. Puri was speaking on the fourth anniversary of the PMAY(U), AMRUT and the Smart Cities Mission. Eighty-one lakh houses have so far been sanctioned for construction and 26 lakh houses completed, Puri said, adding that 41 lakh houses are currently 'grounded for construction'.

The PMAY (U), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015, aims at ensuring housing for all by 2022 by providing financial assistance to beneficiaries. The government has set a target of one crore houses in urban areas across the country over a period of seven years from 2015 to 2022.

Puri told reporters that "as against a target completion date of 2022, I am more or less confident that we can have all the sanctioning done by the first quarter of 2020 and more or less completion by end of 2020". Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said of the Rs 1.26 lakh crore committed for the mission, Rs 52,113 crore had been released so far.

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) has four components - 'Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme' (CLSS), In Situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR), Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) and Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC) under which the ministry provides central assistance to beneficiaries to construct their own houses.

Under CLSS, the Centre provides interest subsidy of up to Rs 2.67 lakh on home loans to individuals, which reduces the principal outstanding amount of the loan. Speaking about the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transportation (AMRUT), Puri said as of now, 59 lakh urban households have got piped drinking water connection while in 81 lakh connections will be provided in the rest period of AMRUT.

Under the Smart Cities Mission, as of now, all 100 Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) have been formed, 100 City Level Advisory Forums (CLAFs) constituted, 100 Project Management Consultants (PMCs) appointed and 5,151 projects worth Rs 2.05 lakh crore sanctioned.