Urban Development minister Venkaiah Naidu sets target of achieving outcomes on-time in 2017

2016 remained a hectic year for his ministries which succeeded in getting the Real Estate Bill passed in Parliament and giving momentum to Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas, getting close to half-way mark of mission targets in constructing toilets.

"On the whole, 2016, the first year of execution of new missions has been encouraging. We would like this momentum even to be further enhanced so that intended outcomes are realised within stipulated time frames," he told PTI.

He said new urban missions, except Swachh Bharat Mission, were launched in 2015 after year-long "extensive consultations" with states, urban Local Bodies and other stakeholders.

"City governments were required to adopt new approaches in place of the earlier business as usual attitude. They rose to the occasion to a large extent and that is evident in the pace of implementation," he said.

Naidu said there was a "new-found spirit of competition" among states and cities is giving "positive results", adding the ease of doing business in urban areas is "improving rapidly".

The year saw selection of 60 cities in three rounds for financial assistance from the Centre to develop them as smart cities.

Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas got close to half-way mark of mission targets in building toilets during this year.

As against the target of building over 66 lakh individual household toilets, about 27.82 lakh have already been built and construction of another 21.43 lakh toilets is nearing completion as the mission gained momentum in 2016.

While 5.08 lakh community and public toilet seats are required to be built by 2019, already 1.07 lakh toilet seats have been built so far and construction of another 1.28 lakh toilet seats in nearing completion.

As many as 482 cities have reported to have become open defecation free during 2016 with Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim declaring all its cities and towns achieving such a feat. Kerala is set to do so by March next year.

While there were widespread activities under Swachh Bharat Mission, the year also saw enactment of Real Estate Act and simplification of approvals for building plans and construction permits.

Over 60 km of metro projects were approved during 2016 with an investment of Rs 22,118 crore. These include Lucknow Metro (22 km with a cost of Rs 6,928 crore), Chennai Metro Extension (9 km, Rs 3,720 crore) and Pune Metro (31 km, Rs 11,420 crore).

Under Heritage Infrastructure Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), implementation of projects worth about Rs 200 crore has begun during 2016 in the cities of Ajmer, Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), Amritsar, Kancheepuram and Velankanni (both in Tamil Nadu), Varanasi and Warangal (Telangana).

The year also saw approval of 9.02 lakh affordable houses for urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) scheme.

Significantly, a total investment of Rs 2.72 lakh crore was approved for augmenting urban infrastructure during January-December with Rs 1.32 lakh crore under smart city plans of 60 cities, Rs 30,657 crore under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Rs 48,773 crore under PMAY (Urban) and Rs 22,118 crore for new Metro projects.

About Rs 5,500 crore investment was approved under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) and Rs 32,835 crore for redevelopment of seven central government residential colonies in New Delhi.

For Delhi, the central government also approved redevelopment of seven General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) colonies at a total investment of Rs 32,835 crore on self-financing basis during the year.

Investment of Rs 30,657 crore was approved under Atal Mission during 2016 for improving infrastructure relating water supply, sewerage networks, storm water drains, urban transport with focus on non-motorised transport and open and green spaces.

During the year, a qualitative transformation has been set in motion with cities embarking on credit rating which is necessary for mobilisation of much required resources through municipal bonds.

As many as 87 smart cities have undertaken credit rating exercise with 16 of them completing the process.

Of the over 81,000 urban wards in the country, 39,995 wards have reported 100 per cent door-to-door collection of municipal solid waste.

A major highlight of 2016 being enactment of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act and subsequent notification of Real Estate Rules for five Union Territories without legislatures by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) and by the Ministry of Urban Development for Delhi.

Some states too have come out with such rules. This legislation that came into being after a long wait of 8 years has been widely welcomed.

Under Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-NULM, meant for enhancing employability and enhancing incomes of urban poor, 7.38 lakh beneficiaries were skill trained, 1.18 lakh urban poor were assisted for self-employment through subsidised loans and 1.43 lakh self-help groups were formed.

Towards improving the 'Ease of doing business', Ministry of Urban Development issued 'Model Building Bye-laws' providing a framework for online approvals for building and construction projects in urban areas including simplified environmental and other clearances within 30 days besides promoting green construction technologies.

To enhance ease of doing business, integrated online building permission system commenced during 2016 in Delhi and Mumbai under which approvals are being accorded in less than 30 days.