Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 1, 2021, laid the foundation of Light House projects (LHPs) under Global Housing Technology Challenge (GHTC)at six sites across six States, through video conference in New Delhi. He announced the winners under Affordable Sustainable Housing Accelerators – India (ASHA-India) and gave away annual awards for excellence in implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) Mission.
The PM also released a certification course on innovative construction technologies named NAVARITIH (New, Affordable, Validated, Research Innovation Technologies for Indian Housing).
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh were present on the occasion, according to a PIB release.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said today is the day to move forward with new energy, to prove new resolutions and today the country is getting new technology to build houses for the poor, middle class. He said the houses are called light house projects in technical language but these 6 projects are really like lighthouses showing a new direction to the housing sector in the country.
The Prime Minister cited these light house projects as an example of the approach of the present Government. He said at one time housing schemes were not as much the priority of the central government and did not go into the nuances and quality of home construction. Today, the country has chosen a different approach, adopting a different route and a better technology, to complete the projects faster.
PM Modi stressed on the importance for the Government ministries not to have large and sluggish structures, but to be fit like startups. He expressed happiness over the active participation of more than 50 Innovative Construction Companies from around the world. He said this global challenge has given us a scope to innovate and incubate with new technology.
The Prime Minister said in the next phase of the same process, the work of 6 light house projects at different sites is starting from today. These light house projects will be made up of modern technology and innovative processes and reduce the construction time and make a more resilient, affordable and comfortable house for the poor.
The PM further explained that these light houses have innovations in construction technology. For example, the project in Indore will not have brick and mortar walls, instead they will use the prefabricated Sandwich Panel system. The light houses in Rajkot will be built using french technology and have monolithic concrete construction technology using tunnel and the house will be more capable of withstanding disasters. In Chennai, US and Finland technologies will use the Precast Concrete system, which will construct the house faster and cheaper. At Ranchi, houses will be built using Germany’s 3D construction system. Each room will be made separately and then the entire structure will be added in the same way as Lego Blocks toys.
The PM said houses are being built in Agartala with the steel frames using New Zealand’s technology which can withstand major earthquake risk. Canada’s technology is being used in Lucknow, which will not require plaster and paint and will use the entire walls already prepared to build houses faster.
He further said that thousands of houses will be built in 12 months at every location which will act as incubation centers through which our planners, architects, engineers and students will be able to learn and experiment with new technology.
The PM announced that along with this, a certificate course will be started to upgrade the skills related to new technology to the people in the construction sector, so that the people can get the best technology and material in the world in house construction.
The Prime Minister remarked that the ASHA-India programme is being run to promote research and startups related to modern housing technology within the country. Through this, new and affordable technology for building 21st century houses will be developed in India itself.
The Prime Minister also recounted the measures taken recently to help the real estate sector. Measures like reduction of tax on cheap houses from 8 to 1 percent, GST reduction from 12 to 5 per cent, recognising the sector as infrastructure for making it eligible for cheap loans have taken our ranking for construction permit from 185 to 27, he added. Procedure for construction permissions have been taken online in more than 2,000 towns, the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister also informed that more than 2 crore housing units have been constructed in rural India.