A high level committee of urban planners and economists will be formed to make recommendations for urban capacity building, planning implementation and other issues of governance, Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said during Budget 2022-23.

According to the Finance Minister, the country needs to reimagine cities as centres of sustainable living. Support will also be provided to states for urban capacity building. Tier-II and Tier-III cities need to step up, too, as urbanisation gains pace.

“Urban planning cannot continue with the business as usual approach,” she said during the Budget. Sitharaman also added that ‘Housing-for-all’ and universal tap water coverage will be a big priority.

Current coverage of ‘Har Ghar Nal Se Jal’ is 8.7 crore and Rs 60,000 crore allocation for ‘Har Ghar Jal’ Mission to cover 3.8 crore households in FY23.

For the Prime Minister Awas Yojana – that includes both the rural and urban segments – Rs 48,000 crore provided in FY23 and 80 lakh houses are expected to be completed by next fiscal.

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