Affordable housing, inclusive growth need of the hour: Narendra Singh Tomar

In an interview with Amrita Nayak Dutta, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Narendra Singh Tomar talks about meeting rural and urban India's infrastructure needs

What are the biggest challenges of urbanisation?

Rapid urbanisation is the biggest challenge. Urban population is expected to increase from 377 million in 2011 to about 600 million by 2030. We need both quantitative and qualitative improvements to meet this demographic's needs. This includes affordable housing, inclusive and sustainable urban development, and augmenting planning and execution capacities of urban local bodies. Various missions launched by central, state and city governments are addressing these issues.

What is the priority for the next two years with respect to recasting the urban landscape?

The single most important priority is implementation. We have launched new urban missions such as Swachh Bharat Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart City Mission, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) and Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana (NULM) with the overarching objective of addressing urban infrastructure deficit and improving the quality of life in our cities and towns. Implementation of these new missions is envisaged in a convergence mode aimed at better utilization of resources for optimal outcomes. All these missions, unlike in the past target specific outcomes in a specific time frame, addressing different layers of infrastructure issues. Government is focusing on ensuring targeted outcomes.

What is the status of the Swachh Bharat Mission?

Yes, no doubt. In both rural and urban areas, sanitation is now firmly on the agenda of citizens, which is a major gain. This change of mindset is compelling the local bodies to rise to the occasion and ensure necessary sanitation infrastructure in villages and towns. In terms of physical performance, about half of the target of building 66 lakh individual household toilet in urban areas has already been achieved. About 1,000 cities and towns have already become Open Defecation Free. In rural areas, over two lakh villages have become ODF. We are now focusing on solid and liquid waste management to ensure Clean India by 2019

When do we see implementation of schemes such as Transit Oriented Development and Value Capture Financing by city governments?

In consultation with States, we have recently come out with Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and Value Capture Financing (VCF) policy instruments for guidance to state and city governments. TOD is an urban planning tool to promote walking and cycling to the nearest mass transit mode like metros and BRTS and back to home so that use of motorised transport is done away with. This is the need of the hour in the context of rapid urbanization. VCF aims at mobilising resources to finance infrastructure projects by capturing a share of increase in the value of assets further to public investments in such projects. Several cities have already appointed consultants to implement this instrument. I expect adoption of these new tools by cities quickly.

How many affordable houses are likely to be built by 2019?

In rural areas, housing requirement is estimated to be about three crore dwelling units. As per a report of the Technical Group in 2012, housing shortage in urban areas was 1.88 crore dwelling units. But States are revisiting housing demand in both rural and urban areas and actual picture would be known soon. For the year 2017-18 alone, we are targeting construction of over 50 lakh dwelling units in rural areas and a similar target for the next financial. This is in addition to what has been built during 2014-16. In urban areas, we have already sanctioned construction of about 24 lakh affordable houses in a short period as against only 12.40 lakh units sanctioned during 2004-14. Since 2014, about four lakh houses have been built in urban areas including those sanctioned under JNNURM. Construction of another over 10 lakh houses is already in progress. Sanctions and construction has gained real momentum. Government is aiming at sanctioning of required number of houses by 2019 so that construction could be completed by 2022 as targeted.

Private investment in urban infrastructure is a concern. How is it being looked at?

Unfortunately, over the decades since Independence, cities have come to heavily rely on central and state support with sub-optimal resource mobilisation on their part. This has a lot to do with urban governance, which has been neglected over the years. A focused effort is now on to enable city governments to focus on resource mobilisation through innovative mechanisms like PPP besides higher realization of taxes and user charges as a part of urban reforms. For private investments to flow into urban infrastructure projects, we need to have an enabling eco-system in place, including confidence in resource streams of urban local bodies and governance structures. We have taken certain initiatives in this regard. These include making O & M of assets created under Atal Mission for five years mandatory, Credit Rating of urban local bodies, implementation of TOD, VCF etc.

Credit Rating of ULBs going full throttle. About 400 AMRUT and Smart Cities have taken up this exercise and about 320 cities and towns have already got ratings. Pune has already come out with Municipal Bond issue and more are in pipeline.

Under Smart City Mission, about 20 per cent of the approved investments are planned under PPP. For the first batch of 20 smart cities, about Rs 8,000 crore is coming through PPP. This is a good sign. Things are changing for better.