Govt keen to develop new cities to meet rapid urbanisation needs: Manohar Lal

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The government is focussing on developing new cities to meet the growing needs of rapid urbanisation, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Manohar Lal, said on Tuesday, adding that under Modi government 3.0 urban infrastructure projects are being undertaken at a record speed.

In the first six months of Modi 3.0, water treatment plants with 549 MLD capacity have been sanctioned and 752 MLD capacity sewage treatment plants have been sanctioned, he said.

“The government is focussed on developing new cities to match the demand of urbanisation,” he said, addressing media persons.

In a presentation comparing the milestones achieved during 2014-2024 and the pre-2014 era, Manohar Lal said, “The number of cities with operational Metro Rail Network has touched 23 between 2014-24, as compared to five till 2014.”

His presentation also showcased that in the last ten years the length of the operational Metro Rail network in the country grew to 993 km, as compared to 248 km till 2014.

“The average Metro rail line commissioned per month in the last 10 years was 6 km/month as compared to 0.68 km/month up to 2014,” said the Minister.

In the field of urban transport, the minister added that in the last ten years 19,752 buses were sanctioned as compared to 14,405 buses sanctioned between 2004-2014.

Highlighting the achievements under PM Street Vendors’ Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM Svanidhi), Manohar Lal said 94.3 lakh loans had been disbursed to over 67 lakh beneficiaries.

“Under the scheme, 43 lakh digitally active street vendors have carried out transactions of over Rs 4,23,275 crore,” said the minister’s presentation.

Under the Smart Cities Mission, 8,076 projects in 100 cities were taken up with a cost of Rs 164,706 crore, said the presentation.

These include 1,556 projects on Smart Mobility completed with a spending of Rs 36,449 crore, 636 Smart Governance projects completed at a cost of Rs 16,035 crore, 1,284 projects on Vibrant Urban Spaces completed with a spending of Rs 10,120 crore, 829 projects on Social Infrastructure completed with a spending of Rs 11,847 crore and 667 Smart Energy projects completed with an investment of Rs 13,712 crore.

Highlighting the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana 2.0, Minister Manohar Lal said in principle approval has been speeded up and given for more than 6 lakh houses in 29 States and Union Territories with a view of speeding up urbanisation.

Sharing details of some of the states which have been sanctioned over 50,000 houses this year, he said UP has been sanctioned 1.10 lakh houses, Maharashtra has been sanctioned 92,000 houses, West Bengal 55,000, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have been sanctioned 50,000 each, among others.