With earlier initiatives like Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) and then Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the government is making efforts to ensure housing for all. The estimated year is 2022, by then the mission is to build affordable houses in selected cities and towns using eco-friendly construction methods for the benefits of the urban poor population of the country. The flats in New Chandigarh are one such specimen that has been constructed keeping the mission into consideration.
The recent announcement made by the three major bodies has committed to expanding the allocation of resources to promote green and affordable housing projects. One of them is a leading housing finance institution i.e National Housing Bank (NHB) in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and the French Development Agency (AFD). The leading green future organization SUNREF will support the Housing Bank in providing more funding via “SUNREF India Housing Programme” to the green housing sector. This would include refinancing home buyers and eligible green building projects certified by local banks and Housing Finance Corporations.
The SIH program supports clean energy, sustainable urban housing development and building of smart cities. The program will provide competitive funding opportunities to promote eco-friendly and budget housing projects. As part of the SIH program, various technical pieces of training will be provided to the stakeholders to understand the planning, rules, and regulations, project design to use eco-friendly practices and affordable parameters).
This initiative includes a subsidy of 12 million (in euros) from the EU’s Asia Investment Facility (AIF). Out of this, 9 million is set for the investment incentives while the rest 3 million euros are of technical components. A credit line of 100 million euros in total is granted by the AFD so that the stakeholders have sufficient resources in forms of loans. As per the bank, separate 1 million euro will be used to provide green label certifications to the housing projects.
The alarming changes in the climate due to global warming have led to the use of environment-friendly strategies in housing and have become a necessity. The SIH program will not only encourage green housing through concessional funding but also will support to upgrade the technical skillset, skilled manpower, and practices. The SIH program targets to benefit 12 thousand households by 2025. The focus of the housing projects will be laid to the economically weaker areas of society. The New Chandigarh Flats are becoming popular as they are affordable, within reach and situated at the prime location.
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