Tamil Nadu PMAY-U Panel Approves Five Rental Housing Projects

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The State-level Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee in Tamil Nadu for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) on Wednesday gave the formal approval for five major rental housing projects, involving public and private players, in Chennai, Sriperumbudur and Hosur. These projects, the first of their kind in Tamil Nadu, will have 45,841 housing units and dormitories, primarily to meet the housing needs of migrant workers and the urban poor. The projects will be executed under Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC), introduced as a sub-scheme of PMAY-U last year after COVID-19 broke out, as part of the Union government’s vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India)’. Projects under ARHC can be taken up unde two models. The first involves conversion of the existing houses, built with government funds but lying vacant, into rental houses.The second involves construction, operation and maintenance of rental houses by public or private entities on their own land. The five projects fall under the second category. Of the five, two are executed by public players. One involves the construction of 18,720 dormitories by the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) in Chennai. The other involves the construction of 840 dormitories and 200 single bedroom units by Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL). The remaining three will be executed by private entities. One will be done by Tata Electronics Power Limited in Hosur. It will include 1,500 single bedroom units, 500 double bedroom units and 2,000 dormitories. SPR City Estates Private Limited will construct 18,112 dormitories at Sriperumbudur. SPR Construction Private Limited will construct 3,968 dormitories and one double bedroom unit as part of another project, also at Sriperumbudur. Under the scheme, the agencies building the houses and dormitories should ensure provision of all amenities and rent them out to workers. The buildings should be operated for the intended purpose for a minimum of 25 years. The scheme’s guidelines say the double bedroom units can be of size 60 sq m and the single bedroom units of 30 sq m. Dormitories can be four or six bedded halls. The Union government will partially subsidise the cost of construction through the Technology Innovation Grant (TIG), if these projects adopt innovative technologies. For instance, four of these projects will use monolithic concrete technology, while another will use the pre-engineered steel structural system or 3D printing technology. Consequently, the five projects together will receive a total of ?114.5 crore. The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has already accepted the projects. At the last meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee held in August, the Ministry reportedly lauded Tamil Nadu for having the highest number of projects lined up under the ARHC.