The Centre’s ‘Housing for All by 2022’ mission has not picked up pace with only 2,883 dwelling units built as of September 5.

The mission, launched in June last year, aims to build two crore houses for the urban poor by 2022. Till September 5, construction of over nine lakh houses was approved by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, according to data accessed by BusinessLine. .

However, while the construction of around 72,000 dwelling units is in progress across seven States, only 2,883 units have been completed, of which, 1,719 are in Gujarat, 718 in Chhattisgarh, and 446 in Tamil Nadu.

Moreover, as many as 15 out of 36 States and Union Territories (UTs) have not sent proposals to the Ministry for construction of houses under the mission, data showed.

Of the 15, seven are UTs, including Delhi, and six are States from the North-East besides UP and Goa.

Anshuman Magazine, CBRE Chairman for India and South East Asia, said: “The Centre-State relationship is important for this mission. But States can themselves do a lot. However, the high cost of land is the biggest impediment.

“India still has surplus land on the outskirts of cities. The government can play a role by providing transport and social infrastructure such as schools so that the supply of land increases, making it affordable.”

Anuj Puri, Chairman and Country Head, JLL India, said efforts to recognise and delineate non-essential land being held by government bodies such as the Railways, are needed.

The Ministry is following up with States. “As for as the North-East States, we will soon hold meetings with officials there to take stock of the progress.

Moreover, the housing shortage in the North-East is not as acute as in other States such as UP,” said a senior official from the Ministry. Union Minister for Housing M Venkaiah Naidu intends inviting UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to discuss the issue.

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