Guntur (Andhra Pradesh), October 4: Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday handed over the first instalment of 3 lakh houses to Andhra Pradesh under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) 2.0. The houses are worth ₹3,600 crore, the Ministry of Rural Development said.
At the same event in Burripalem village of Guntur district, and in the presence of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chouhan laid the foundation stone for what the ministry called the country’s first pilot housing project built with 3D concrete printing technology.
Allocation raised from 76,000 houses
Chouhan said ministry officials had told him Andhra Pradesh was eligible for only 76,000 houses. Naidu asked for more so that every poor family in the state would have a permanent home, and 3 lakh houses were sanctioned instead, he said.
He told the gathering the Centre would keep the numbers going. “Complete the construction of these 3 lakh houses, and we will sanction another 3 lakh, followed by a further 3 lakh,” he said.
Naidu said that when the state raised the need for permanent homes for the poor, Chouhan “immediately increased the allocation from around 75,000 houses to 3 lakh”.
177 homes to be built in six months
The pilot project will build 177 houses at a cost of ₹14 crore using advanced machinery and 3D concrete printing. Construction is expected to be finished within six months. The government says the printed houses will last longer than homes built by conventional methods.
Farm income and women’s self-help groups
Chouhan said farmers in the state now receive ₹20,000 a year: ₹6,000 from the Centre under PM-KISAN and ₹14,000 from the state under its Annadata Sukhibhava scheme.
He said 23 lakh women in Andhra Pradesh had already become Lakhpati Didis through self-help groups, and the aim was to raise this to 60 lakh. He also said the state could become the country’s leading horticulture hub for fruits, flowers, vegetables and medicinal crops.
The national Saras Mela will be held in Andhra Pradesh on 15 October. Chouhan said this would be the first time the fair is held outside Delhi.
Amaravati, Polavaram and a new airport
Chouhan said Parliament had passed legislation recognising Amaravati as the sole permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh, and the Centre had given ₹15,000 crore in special financial assistance for its development.
He called the Polavaram irrigation project a lifeline for the state and said it was moving ahead with 100% grant assistance from the Centre. The Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport would further improve the state’s connectivity, he added.
Minister of State for Rural Development Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani and state ministers Nadendla Manohar, Kolusu Parthasarathy and Kandula Durgesh were among those present.
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