Manohar Lal Khattar india news

The Union Cabinet has recently approved ₹₹1 lakh crore Urban Challenge Fund, under which states are to contribute 25%, and 50% is to come from financial institutions. Given the financial constraints of urban local bodies, how many cities will be able to execute bankable projects in the next one or two years?

Although it was announced in last year’s Budget, long-term plans – especially five-year plans – require significant time for planning and approval, including approval from the PMO. All the schemes are now complete, and a nominal amount will be allocated to start the scheme this year, which will be fully implemented next year.

Major projects will focus on revenue-generation models to ensure repayment, so that investments in these projects can be realised. For example, integrated command and control centers can use special IDs for households to track and enhance property tax collection through digitization. It is easy to repay 50 percent of the cost in four to five years from increased revenue. Other examples include parking lots, local markets with rental income, and toll roads. This model ensures participation of urban local bodies (ULBs), states and the Centre.

Projects entirely funded by the central government often fail due to lack of maintenance and ownership; Therefore, I believe that these projects under the Urban Challenge Fund will be highly successful. So, all the projects of ₹4 lakh crores will be successful

What will be the role of private players? Will they be interested in projects for the public good?

Today projects are being built by both the government and the private sector. Financing may include bonds, banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFCs). PPP (Public-Private Partnership) projects will continue to attract private players.

Profit is determined during the tender process; A contractor includes his profit in the lump sum cost regardless of the revenue model. For services like sewerage and water, ULBs should impose user charges to ensure that the funds can be repaid over a long period such as 10 to 20 years. Funding can be done through both banking and NBFCs. Whoever gets the contract will make a profit; It may be more or less. Ultimately, the L1 bidder (lowest bidder) will win the contract.

The budget of major schemes like AMRUT and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (aimed at improving the quality of life in urban areas) has decreased from the last year. Utilization of funds has been low relative to projections in recent years. Can the design be changed to improve utilization of funds?

These are contributory centrally sponsored schemes in which funds are shared between the Center and the states. Expenditure depends on states’ responses and speed of implementation. Budgets are estimates based on actual spending from previous years. We update the technology from time to time and focus on capacity building for ULBs, as sometimes they lack the capacity to spend the available funds.

Challenges include lack of qualified contractors or sole bidders (for contracts) leading to re-tendering, land acquisition hurdles and difficulties in project concept. We provide guidance and assistance through official visits to resolve these state and local level issues. I have also done two tours across the country. Mainly, it (performance) depends on the states and ULBs and less on us.

Increasingly, the focus is on improving the “own source revenue” of ULBs. Do they have the potential?

We should encourage them and help them. Governments cannot finance everything as public expectations rise. The tendency to demand free services is increasing. Then someone is seeing how much money is coming from the Center and the State. ULBs, as the third tier of government, have to raise their own resources under the provisions of the 74th Amendment. But they will implement these only if it becomes a condition for receiving financial assistance. It should go to those who actively work to build their resources.

Are you suggesting ending the free trend?

We’ll have to stop this. Even the courts are helping us. In a recent case, the court questioned the announcement of free electricity in Tamil Nadu and asked about the source of funds for such announcements. Although you will provide it (to people) for free, you still have to pay for it. Where will you get the money? This is a cause for concern. Under good governance, we all have to think about this.

Indore, which is often showcased as a model city in terms of civic governance, has recently reported deaths linked to contaminated drinking water. How could such a serious public health risk be ignored?

Issues such as water and drainage are primarily the responsibility of the municipality and the state. Although the incident is tragic and investigation is ongoing, it occurred in an underdeveloped area of ​​the city where (civil) work was still pending.

Although we have no direct role in this, we have instructed local bodies there and across the country to replace old water lines.

The Urban Challenge Fund also prioritizes the redevelopment of such older neighborhoods. For example, in Delhi’s Jalorewala Bagh, slum clusters comprising 2,000 houses were replaced with multi-storey flats, which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister. Problems in century-old cities take time to resolve, and although the incidents are regrettable, they remain a matter of grave concern.

The results of the National Water Quality Survey, Drinking Water Survey (2022-2023) have never been made fully public. Will the Ministry conduct such a survey in future and will its results be made public, as is the case with the National Swachh Survekshan ranking?

Swachh Survekshan rankings are made public to motivate citizens and create awareness. However, hydrography also involves internal engineering work and municipal processes. Publicizing internal shortcomings may demoralize officials. The purpose of these surveys is to alert municipalities to what needs improvement. Even if the survey is conducted, the results will not be made public but will be shared only with the authorities.

What is the status of Delhi Master Plan and National Capital Region Plan?

The draft Delhi Master Plan is ready and is in the final review stage between our department and the Union Home Ministry. We are confident that we will be able to finalize this in the next two meetings between the ministries. The NCR Master Plan was delayed due to court rulings and issues related to the Aravalli region, but many issues have now been resolved. The DDA Chairman now has the charge of the NCR Planning Board and a meeting will be held soon to finalize it.

What about Delhi’s scheme to give ownership rights to residents of unauthorized colonies (which was launched in 2019)? Also, you recently announced that the slums of Delhi will soon be redeveloped. Can you give us details?

Delhi’s development has been affected due to past conflicts between the Center and the state, as it is a Union Territory and cannot run without the support of the Central Government. We now have a triple engine government (BJP is in power at the Centre, Delhi and Delhi Municipal Corporation). With better coordination, we are implementing PM-UDAY to give land rights to residents of 1,700 colonies. Although the Act was passed in 2019, the previous government did not implement it properly. But we are working on it rapidly. We will not only regularize these colonies but also give them land rights so that they can be redeveloped. We will announce the policy soon.

Regarding slums, the plan is to replace them with in-situ housing or flats within 3 km. We will keep some part and give the rest to the residents. The Ministry and Delhi Government have made budgetary provisions. A policy will be announced soon.

We have also started shifting slum dwellers to vacant government houses. Houses have already been allotted to more than 700 families of a large settlement who were living on Race Course Road (Lok Kalyan Marg).

Why is the trend of affordable rental housing not increasing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY 2.0)?

Affordable Rental Housing (ARH) was introduced to help the floating population. Model 1 involves converting vacant government houses, while Model 2 encourages private projects with government assistance. PMAY 2.0 has a special focus on ARH, but currently, states and the private sector are assessing how to implement the projects. So far only Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat have started adopting it. Often, these plans take time to implement as states try to figure out how to mobilize resources.

In Delhi, we are renovating around 40,000 vacant houses to make them rentable. Those that cannot be repaired will be demolished and the land used to build new affordable homes.

Recently, there was controversy over the rejection of the metro rail project for Coimbatore.

The data submitted by Tamil Nadu for Coimbatore was found inconsistent by the approval committee. There were estimates suggesting (ridership) figures which were even higher than Chennai. We have to see what the ridership is and what the revenue can be. While lump sum capital loss can be managed through loans, recurring losses will be harder to manage. They are conducting a fresh survey.

Available population figures are from the 2011 census. Anything else is estimated population. The new census data will be available by 2027. If the new figures (for Metro in Coimbatore) make the case, they will get approval. I have invited the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for a meeting to discuss this.

There are small cities where there is not much demand, but they have metro. How viable are they?

There may be one or two such cities, because things are predictable. Also, not a single line is viable. It is only when there are two or three lines in the network that ridership increases. As is the case of Delhi.

But in these small towns people travel less distance…

Many cities see the metro as a sign of progress; This is a prestigious project. But they have to be told that this approach will cause harm.

But the focus is on building networks in metro cities. But we will choose shorter lines. Often the focus is on connecting the metro to the airport, but only a small part of the population (in these cities) goes to the airport. Connecting the heavily trafficked market and industrial areas of the city with metro should be a priority.

So every experience we get is carefully considered when looking at new projects. If there is no financial feasibility, we will not hesitate to deny it (approval).