With an aim to remove the biggest impediment of the country, Road Transport Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the government is to offer affordable houses below Rs 5 lakh at a time when only one per cent of India's population can afford a house above Rs 10 lakh. He said apart from focus on building smart cities, providing affordable houses to the poorest of the poor also tops the agenda of the government.
The Minister further said that the government will provide construction cost Rs 450 square feet for house in Rs 5 lakh. Besides, a subsidy of Rs 1.5 lakh would be given on the houses and after that the cost of the house will be Rs 3.5 lakh and loan will be available for 7 to 7.5 per cent interest rate. Further, the government are installing solar system in that besides furniture including bed made of fly ash.
Highlighting one of the ventures, Gadkari said an experiment has been done in Nagpur to construct a house on steel structure using 70 per cent fly ash, which will be inaugurated on February 20. Moreover, speaking about the smart cities project, he said the government will not only make smart cities but is also committed to developing the existing cities as per the modern-day requirements. Ten out of 12 major ports will have smart cities.