The state government is considering bringing the several agencies in charge of affordable housing schemes under a single umbrella.
According to a source, the government is mulling the possibility of bringing the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) and others under the urban development department to streamline and expedite affordable housing projects.
The official said while these were independent bodies, the government was of the opinion that having so many bodies to execute affordable housing projects would become too unwieldy. The previous BJP-led government under Devendra Fadnavis had aimed to build affordable housing for all by 2022 as a part of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme.
“Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had expressed an interest in merging these agencies to expedite the projects. While a meeting was held in Mumbai pertaining to that city, similar meetings will be held for other key cities,” an urban development department official said.
In 2018, the government had signed agreements with Credai-Maharashtra and Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry to develop around 9.15 lakh affordable housing units in the rural areas of the state by 2022.
The state had also notified set a target of building 19.4 lakh houses in urban areas by 2022. Work on 13.5 lakh units is underway, the official said.
Another government official said the state’s policies for the construction of affordable housing were really effective compared to those of other states. “The benefit of increased FSI (Floor Space Index), low land cost, reduction of stamp duty to just Rs1,000, are a boost to affordable housing,” senior state government official said.
The state government had recently announced an additional subsidy of Rs2 lakh for those working in the construction industry and also devised policies to develop green zones in a sustainable way under PMAY, the official said.
