Govt to introduce 'Housing Challenge' to boost Housing for All

NEW DELHI: After the success of Smart City Challenge, the Union government is ready to introduce a similar technology competition to give fillip to the Housing for All programme. The competition – to be called Housing Challenge — would be conducted by states to choose the best and most cost-effective technology for each affordable housing project.

National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), under the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MHUA), has been tasked with providing a working model to the states.

NBCC would handhold the state governments in the initial Housing Challenges. According to sources, the ministry has identified 25 cities where the model can be rolled out on a pilot basis.

The ministry has decided that each competition would be unique. NBCC would frame a “problem statement” for the Housing Challenge. The problem statement would clearly state the problem, or the task at hand.

“The challenge would clearly state that a project involves the number of dwelling units to be built and the probable financial models to fund it. The bidders would have to propose a technology that would achieve the objective and would be the most time and cost effective,” said an official.

The move comes after the Smart City Challenge, which has been used to choose cities to be developed as smart cities, was appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

NBCC has finalised a concept paper to explain the Housing Challenge. It has laid out 16 different construction technologies approved for Housing for All and different public private partnership models recently worked out by MHUA.

 

Source- ET Realty