Year End Review 2022: Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs

Various schemes and Missions run by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs during 2021 have helped boost the Make in India and AtamNirbhar Bharat initiatives in many ways. There are factors connected with the schemes and Missions which have directly influenced the AtamNirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiatives directly or indirectly.

Against total approved SAAP size of ₹77,640 crore, 5,874 projects worth ₹82,223 crore have been grounded. Of the grounded projects, physical work worth ₹67,073 cr. have been completed (inclusive of completed projects worth ₹33,031 cr.) and expenditure of ₹60,063 cr. has been incurred.

So far, AMRUT has provided around 134 lakh water tap connections and 102 lakh sewer/ septage connections, developed 3,096 MLD treatment capacity of WTP, 2,892 MLD treatment capacity of STPs, around 1,400 MLD of reuse capacity of which 800 MLD is being reused, and around 4,450 acres of green space/parks, and eliminated around 2,400 water logging points.

Sector-wise progress of AMRUT projects is as below:

All Figures in ₹ Crore

AMRUT 2.0 was launched by the Prime Minister on 1st October 2021. This mission is a step towards AatmaNirbhar Bharat with aim of making the cities ‘water secure’ and providing functional water tap connections to all households in all statutory towns/cities. The total indicative outlay for AMRUT 2.0 is ₹2,77,000 Cr including central share of ₹76,760 Cr for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26.

So far, 4,830 projects worth ₹93,381 crore of Water Supply, Water Body Rejuvenation, Sewerage & Septage Management, Parks & Green Space Development are approved under AMRUT 2.0 mission. These projects target 2.68 crore water tap connections, 2.64 crore sewer connections, 7,151 MLDs capacity to be added through new and augmentation of existing WTPs, 827 MLDs water to be recycled/reused, and 2,204 MLDs capacity to be added through new and augmentation of existing STPs.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U) was launched in June 2015 to provide an all-weather dwelling unit to eligible beneficiaries across all urban areas. All houses built or acquired or purchased under the Mission have basic amenities like kitchen, water supply, electricity and toilet. The Mission has been extended upto 31^st December 2024 to complete the already sanctioned houses upto 31^st March 2022. As of November 2022, more than 1.20 crore houses have been sanctioned under the Mission, out of which more than 64 lakhs have been completed and the rest are in various stages of construction/grounding.

Under the Mission, a Technology Sub-Mission (TSM) has been set up to facilitate the adoption of innovative, sustainable, eco-friendly and disaster-resilient technologies and building materials for low-cost, speedier and quality construction of houses. TSM not only aims to ensure speedier and safer delivery under PMAY-U but also has the potential to bring a paradigm shift in the overall housing construction sector in the country. Under TSM, Global Housing Technology Challenge- India (GHTC-India) helped identify 54 global proven and potential innovative construction technologies with an objective of starting a new era in the construction technology sector in the country. As a result of GHTC-India, six Light House Projects (LHPs) are being built in six cities of the country in six different climate zones. This year, two of the six LHPs at Chennai and Rajkot were completed & handed over to the beneficiaries by Hon’ble Prime Minister. Advantages of these LHPs are many, the primary ones being durability, climate-resilient, affordability, safety and speed.

MoHUA also launched the Enrolment Module for TECHNOGRAHIS including students from IITs, NITs, engineering, planning and architecture colleges, faculty members, academicians, and stakeholders for registering themselves to visit Live Laboratories at six LHP sites for learning, consultation, generation of ideas and solutions, experimentation, innovation, and technical awareness. This helped them in getting a first-hand account of the technologies being used and in turn, they can adapt and adopt them as per their requirements in the construction sector for a ‘Make in India’ approach. This year more than 7348 TECHNOGRAHIS visited the LHPs physically while more than 5000 participants took part in 75 RACHNA (Resilient Affordable Comfortable Housing through National Action) Training on Innovative Construction Technologies & Thermal Comfort for Affordable Housing.

 In the month of October 2022, MoHUA organized an Expo-cum-Conference: Indian Urban Housing Conclave in Rajkot. The exhibition provided a platform for all Missions of MoHUA to showcase their achievements in the past seven years and also showcase the way forward. The second part of the exhibition highlighted the achievements by various States/UTs under PMAY(U) with a specific focus on Gujarat. The third part of the exhibition provided a platform to bring together people and construction technologies was a national exhibition on innovative and indigenous construction technologies. More than 80 construction technologies participated in the exhibition. The event also saw release of seven books by MoHUA: Housing for All: Transforming Lives in Urban India, Compendiums on LHP Chennai & LHP Rajkot, Handbook on Innovative Construction Technologies and Thermal Comfort in Affordable Housing, Compendium of 75 RACHNA Trainings on Affordable Housing & Thermal Comfort, Proceedings of Policy Dialogue Beyond PMAY(U), Housing, Satisfaction and Livelihood – An Impact Assessment of PMAY-U and Discourses of Affordable Housing in India & Best Practices under PMAY(U).

Smart Cities Mission was launched with the objective of promoting cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘Smart’ solutions. The year 2022 started with a target to work order all projects in the Smart Cities Mission. Having achieved this target, the remaining nine months in the mission has been the year to accelerate work completion.  Currently, 5,005 projects worth ₹92,766 crore have been completed until 12 December 2022 with 2,737 projects worth 88,796 crore in the advanced stage of implementation. Its noteworthy that 1,707 projects worth ₹36,754 crore have been completed in the current year. The financial progress in Smart Cities Mission has accelerated too. The funds released by the Central government increased from ₹28,315 crore to ₹34,887 crore towards the end of year 2022. This progress has also been reflected by an 89% utilization of funds released from the Center and States.

An important milestone achieved in the mission, was to operationalize Integrated Command and Control Centers (ICCC) in all 100 Smart Cities. While these ICCCs were developed to incorporate technology in urban management, they became the war rooms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each of these ICCCs are maturing every day towards better management of services with use of technology in fields like safety, transport management, solid waste management, water supply etc.

21 Indian States have signed an MoU to extend digital services to its citizens across all its Urban Local Bodies under the National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM), which was launched creating a common platform to be shared across India. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) are helping the States in the implementation of NUDM.

India also won the prestigious World Smart City Award under the Innovation category, at Smart City Expo World Congress-2022 in Barcelona for their data initiative- “Data Smart Cities: Empowering Cities through Data”; among 337 proposals received from 60 countries.

Key Initiatives

Few notable events and initiatives conducted by the Smart Cities Mission, MoHUA during the year are as under:

• In January 2022, SCM, MoHUA conducted the ‘Urban Geospatial Data Stories Challenge-2022’. The event saw participation from 1,000+ people across national geospatial agencies, private sector enterprises, scientific and academic institutions, businesses, start-ups to analyze this data and create insightful data stories.
• In April 2022, SCM, MoHUA with Surat City organized a 3-Day conference “Smart Cities, Smart Urbanization” in Surat, under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM). During this, SCM launched various data and technology-led initiatives.
• Urban Outcomes Framework 2022 was launched as an initiative to undertake a transparent and comprehensive assessment of cities based on cross-city outcomes across major sectors. The Framework includes the third rounds of Ease of Living Index (EoLI), Municipal Performance Index (MPI), Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) and Data Maturity Assessment Framework (DMAF).
• The Artificial Intelligence Playbook for Cities was designed to act as a guidebook for the implementation of AI solutions that cities can deploy to solve complex urban issues, while the Artificial Intelligence Use Case Compendium was a compilation of AI use cases that have successfully been implemented by smart cities across the urban domain.
• By August 2022, all 100 Smart Cities had developed and operationalized their Integrated Command and Control Centers (ICCCs) in the country.
• In October 2022, SCM, MoHUA conducted a 2-day workshop viz. “Smart Cities CEOs Conference on Data and Technology” in Kochi, Kerala. The conference focused on financial sustenance, procurement methods, technical capacity, healthy market participation and maturity assessment for the efficient running of ICCCs across the country.
• In early November 2022, SCM, MoHUA launched the Citizen Perception Survey 2022 under the Ease of Living Index-2022 for 264 cities to capture citizens feedback about their city. The Survey, being conducted online and offline, aims to capture and reflect opinions of from more than 21 lakh citizens across the length and breadth of the country.
• In November 2022, MoHUA also won the prestigious World Smart City Awards for Innovation at Smart City Expo World Congress 2022 in Barcelona for their ambitious data initiative “DataSmart Cities: Empowering Cities through Data” under the Innovation category.

To sustain the outcomes achieved under SBM-U Phase 1 and take it to scale, it was crucial to keep up the momentum till the final intended outcomes and impact have been achieved. The Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0 was therefore launched on   1^st October 2021 with the vision of a Garbage Free urban India by 2026. The Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 is being implemented with a total financial allocation of INR ₹1,41,678 crores over a period of 5 years from          2021-2026. The key components of the Mission comprise (i) Sustainable Sanitation (ii) Sustainable Solid Waste Management and (iii) Used Water Management. In addition, Information Education Communication/Behaviour Change Communication and Capacity Building are provisioned as cross cutting components. The focus on Garbage Free Cities has already resulted in the preparation and implementation of City Sanitation Action Plans, City Solid Waste Action Plans, Used Water Management Plans and IEC and Capacity Building Plans by ULBs across the country.

ICT Connect

The ICT enabled MIS system provides a single click , seamless and integrated interface between Ministry, State and Urban Local Bodies for all activities from planning to monitoring , evaluation and MIS. Recent additions include dashboards on results of Swachh Survekshan and legacy dumpsite remediation etc. Citizen Connect at scale is achieved through the Swachhata App, use of social media and instant messaging for information exchange and communication, use of google toilet locator, and periodic campaigns, learning events like the #SwachhTalks and platforms like Swachh Manch.

Capacity Development Initiatives

The Mission Team at the Centre provides facilitative support to the States through periodic review and discussions, dissemination of knowledge products like Toolkits, Guidelines, Advisories, and other resources, facilitation of peer learning networks, arranging for exposure visits. This year the National Capacity Building Framework for Garbage Free Cities, the National Behaviour Change Communication Framework for Garbage Free Cities and revised Swachh Certification Protocols were launched. The Mission has undertaken various activities to sensitize states and cities on COVID, Single Use Plastics, Solid and Liquid Waste Management including the use of local influencers. Focused campaigns, guidelines for places of special interest, e.g., Swachh Teerth guidelines for pilgrimage centres, AKAM parks, branded chaurahas, Waste to Wealth installations etc. have resulted in much appreciation by tourists, visitors, and citizens.  The Mission is also designating centres for excellence like IIM Indore to support states and cities. Periodic visits to States and Cities are undertaken to facilitate activities under the Mission.

Campaigns and Outreach Activities

The Mission facilitates campaigns and outreach activities with states and cities.  The major campaigns conducted this year are the Swachhatam Connect, Lakshya Zero Dumpsite, Swachhata Anthem, beautification of roundabouts to commemorate AKAM, Clean and Green, Promotion of Source Segregation and Toilets 2.0 to refurbish community and public toilets Over 3500 urban local bodies (ULBs) across 32 states and Union Territories reached out to schools, communities, and households to promote source segregation. Under the Toilets 2.0 campaign a series of interventions were carried out to transform public and community toilet facilities in urban areas.

Overview of Progress

Completed Individual Household Latrines (IHHL) and Community & Public Toilets (CT/PT)

1. Open Defecation Free (ODF) States/UTs and Cities/Towns Declared

ii. Door to door collection and Segregation of waste Coverage (Wards)

(iv) Waste Processing (Overall %) (TPD)

ODF+, ODF++ and Water+ Cities in the Country

Out of total 4,715 ULBs, Government of India has declared all 4,715 cities/ towns as Open Defecation Free (ODF) of which 4,355 cities have been certified through third party verification. As on date, 3,547 cities have been certified as ODF+ and 1,191 cities are certified as ODF++ and 14 cities (Indore, Surat, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Tirupati, Chandigarh, Navi Mumbai, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Greater Visakhapatnam, Karad, Panchgani, Bhopal, Baramati and Mysore) have been certified as Water+ under the Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban (SBM-U).

Waste Processing Capacities are as follows

• 2,285 functional Waste to Compost Plants (centralized) with capacity to process 71,682 tons of waste per day (TPD) 73 waste to compost plants are under construction, with approx. input capacity of 1,084 tons per day.
• 123 Waste to Energy (waste to electricity / biogas / bio-methanation) plants operational with input capacity of 4,746 tons per day, and another 8 plants under construction with capacity to process 2,788 TPD of waste.
• 2,028 functional Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) with capacity to process 42,478 tons of waste per day 129 MRFs are under construction.
• 24 functional RDF plants with input capacity of 12,420 tons per day.
• 385 functional C&D plants, with input capacity of ~12,416 tons per day. 7 plants under construction with combined input capacity of ~107 tons per day.

Further, a variety of policy interventions have been introduced to encourage conversion of waste to value added products. The focus is on creating an eco-system so that waste to wealth projects and the circular economy approach become financially viable and sustainable. MoHUA has brought out the knowledge product ‘Circular Economy in Municipal Solid and Liquid Waste Management ‘in this context. The MoHUA is also allied with programmes like the LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) Mission to promote sustainability.

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) is one of the flagship schemes of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs that works towards alleviating urban poverty through building strong community institutions, providing skill training, access to affordable credit for self-employment, support for street vendors and shelters for the urban homeless. The Mission is facilitating urban poor in creating sustainable livelihoods.

Since inception, the scheme has covered 28 States, 7 UTs and 3817 towns creating 30.7 lakh livelihoods. Under the Scheme, 1.3 lakh Shelter spaces were created for urban homeless and 79.4 lakh women members were mobilized into 7.8 lakh Self Help Groups (SHGs). The Mission has also provided 32.07 lakh Certificate of Vending (CoV) to urban street vendors to safeguard their rights.

The Mission is facilitating wider market access to the products made by SHGs, which were so far selling locally, by expediting their on-boarding on e-commerce portals viz. Amazon & Flipkart, in the aftermath of pandemic induced lock-downs. More than 7,000 products of SHG members across 25 States/ UTs are selling through more than 100 seller points on the e-commerce portals. ‘SonChiraiya’ – one brand for urban SHG products, has been launched to provide increased visibility and wider market access to their product.

Owing to the rapid growth in the construction sector and growing need for productivity enhancement and income increase linked to skills, an Innovative & Special Project (I&SP) project under DAY-NULM named National ‘Initiative for Promotion of Upskilling of Nirman Workers’ (NIPUN) has been launched w.e.f. 20.06.2022 by Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs to bring positive impact in the lives of more than one-lakh construction workers through an innovative skilling and fulfilling the future needs of construction sector. This project is a path-breaking skilling initiative for the largely unorganized labour force in the construction sector. The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MoSDE) has been engaged as ‘Implementation Partner’ for all the three modes / components of NIPUN namely Recognition to prior learning (RPL), Fresh Skilling and International placement. In the project, major real-estate developers’ associations like National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) and Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI), besides Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) like Water Management and Plumbing Skills Council (WMPSC) and Infrastructure Equipment Skill Council (IESC) etc. have been engaged.

As part of the Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav, the Mission took key initiatives to improve delivery of benefits and exhibited achievements in promoting livelihoods through digital empowerment. During the ‘Azadi@75 – the achievements made under DAY-NULM was showcased at India Urban Housing Conclave 2022 at Rajkot, Gujarat.

Street vendors (SVs), the micro entrepreneurs of the country play an important role in reducing the cost of living in urban cities. With strong linkages with formal economy and contribution towards providing employment to a vast section of the society, they play a small however significant role contributing towards economy. Covid 19 induced nation vide lockdown had impacted vast majority of these street vendors effecting their source of income and livelihood. To provide handholding support to street vendors to restart their businesses, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched PM SVANidhi scheme on 1^st June, 2020 to provide working capital loans to street vendors.

Initiatives and Achievements

To empower street vendors, making them independent and self-sustainable, some innovative initiatives were introduced under the scheme for holistic development of the PM SVANidhi beneficiaries such as Digital Empowerment, SVANidhi se Samriddhi, Swadisht Vyanjan ki Aadhunik Dukaan (SVAD), Legal Identity, SVANidhi Mahotsav, National Awards for e-Governance, Parichay Boards etc.

Scheme Performance (as on 11.12.2022)

Under Urban Transport Mission, the metro coaches which were earlier imported from Spain, South Korea and China, are now being manufactured within the country. Their quality is at par with international standards and also being exported to Australia and Canada.

Achievements

• Kochi Metro Phase II of length 11.2 kms at the completion cost of Rs 1957.05 Cr and Nagpur Metro Phase II of length 43.8 kms at the completion cost of Rs 6,708 Cr have been sanctioned in September, 2022 and December, 2022 respectively.
• Kochi Metro Phase 1A of length 2 kms at the total completion cost of Rs 710.92 Cr has also been approved
• About 83 kms of metro rail lines have been commissioned in the cities of Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kochi, Ahmedabad and Nagpur.
• Nagpur Metro in Maharashtra has entered Guinness Book of World Records for creating the longest double-decker viaduct metro measuring 3.14 km on Wardha Road.
• As an initiative under Make in India, under the aegis of MoHUA, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL), Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) will develop indigenized i-CBTC (Communication Based Train Control) which is a modern communication based system that uses radio communication to transfer timely and accurate train control information. The project is expected to be completed in 3 years at the cost of Rs 208 Cr.

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RKJ/M