Gujarat CM assures PM Modi's timely completion of over 1,000 houses

Ahmedabad, Jan 01: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the state government would try to finish building over 1,000 houses under the Light House Projects (LHP) in Rajkot city within the deadline.

The prime minister on Friday laid the foundation stone for 1,144 residences coming up in Rajkot under the LHP. Rajkot is one of the six cities in India chosen by the Modi government for this project to provide homes to the urban poor using green construction technology.

"The 1,144 houses in Rajkot will be built at a cost of Rs 118 crore," Rupani said in his address in Rajkot ahead of the virtual foundation stone-laying ceremony. "The Light House Project will help the government provide houses to poor and middle-class citizens. I thank the PM for selecting Rajkot for this project. Crores of poor people across the country will get their houses. We will try our best to complete the project in time," Rupani said.

The chief minister further said that the Gujarat government will ensure that Rajkot's LHP will become a model for other states. "We will be using tunnel formwork construction technology, which will help us reduce the cost," he added.

Giving details about the ongoing Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the chief minister told the PM that the state government has given a go-ahead to build 7.29 lakh affordable houses in Gujarat under the scheme. "Gujarat is leading in the implementation of the PMAY. We have already allotted 4.39 lakh houses to the beneficiaries under the scheme till date.

Around 2.95 lakh beneficiaries also received subsidy on their home loans under the scheme," Rupani said. To give additional relief to the poor and the middle class, the state government does not collect any stamp duty and registration charges from beneficiaries, Rupani told Modi.

On the occasion, the chief minister also inaugurated or laid foundation stones for different projects, meant for Rajkot, worth Rs 112 crore. The state government has launched projects worth Rs 20,000 crore in the span of five months, he said.