AP, UP, MP and West Bengal perform well in completing houses under PMAY: ICRA

Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have performed well in completing houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), rating agency ICRA said on Wednesday.

AP and UP have completed more than 3 lakh homes each under this scheme which aims to provide Housing for All by 2022.

The PMAY has witnessed varying levels of progress among states, with AP, UP, MP and West Bengal achieving significantly higher house completions than other states, the agency said in a statement.

AP and UP have fared well under PMAY Urban (PMAY-U), while under PMAY Gramin (PMAY-G), MP, West Bengal and UP have recorded the highest number of house completions.

"The success under PMAY-U for select states is attributed to the pro-activeness of the respective state governments in establishing PPP (public-private partnership) practices, as well as their focus on streamlining execution and maintaining efficiency in timelines through various steps," said Mahi Agarwal, assistant vice-president and associate head, ICRA.

These mainly include provision of single-window clearance for building approvals and quick validation of applications, she added.

Under PMAY-G, the respective states' focus on quick beneficiary selection, timely disbursement of funds to the beneficiary account and ensuring availability of manpower and material for construction have been the key driving factors, Agarwal said.

While the number of houses sanctioned under both the schemes has been high, standing at around 81 lakh under PMAY-U and around 1 crore under PMAY-G, the actual completions, particularly under the former, has been moving at a slow pace, standing only at 32 per cent of sanctioned houses.

Progress of PMAY-G, however, has been significantly better, with 84 per cent of the sanctioned houses having been completed under Phase-I of the scheme.