Lok Sabha Question No. 4558 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-19
Subject: Urban Planning Initiatives in Tamil Nadu
Ministry: HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
Asked by: Ms. S Jothimani

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4558

## TO BE ANSWERED ON MARCH 19, 2026

## URBAN PLANNING INITIATIVES IN TAMIL NADU

NO. 4558. MS. S JOTHIMANI:

Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the key urban planning initiatives undertaken by the Union Government in Tamil Nadu including under the schemes like Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission and other urban development programmes;
- (b) the  total  funds  allocated,  released  and  utilised  for  urban  infrastructure projects in Tamil Nadu including Karur Lok Sabha Constituency under the said schemes since 2019;
- (c) whether the Government has identified any challenges in urban planning and development in Tamil Nadu, particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 cities like Karur and if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken to address them;
- (d) whether there are any pending urban development projects in Karur due to delays in funding, approvals or other factors and if so, the details thereof along with the measures being taken to expedite them; and
- (e) the  details  of  the  plans,  if  any,  to  improve  sustainable  urban  planning, public  transport,  waste  management  and  smart  infrastructure  in  Tamil Nadu including Karur Lok Sabha Constituency?

## ANSWER MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE (SHRI TOKHAN SAHU)

- (a)  to  (e):  As  per  the  provisions  of  Article  243W  of  the  Constitution,  in conjunction with the Seventh and Twelfth Schedules, matters relating to urban development fall within the purview of States/Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). However, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) provides programmatic support to the States/Union Territories (UTs) in their urban development  agenda  through  its  various  flagship  Missions/Programmes viz.  Atal  Mission  for  Rejuvenation  &  Urban  Transformation  2.0  (AMRUT 2.0),  Swachh  Bharat  Mission  -  Urban  2.0  (SBM  -  U  2.0),  Smart  Cities Mission  (SCM),  Pradhan  Mantri  Awas  Yojana  -  Urban  2.0  (PMAY-U  2.0), Urban Transport (UT) etc.

Through these Missions/Schemes, the Central Government approves the State Plans and provides the Central Assistance (CA) to the States. The projects are selected, designed, approved and executed by the States/UTs and the cities. The State Governments release funds to the cities/districts.

AMRUT: The Mission launched on 25 June 2015 in selected 500 cities (485 cities including 15 merged cities) and towns across the country focuses on development of basic infrastructure, in the selected cities and towns, in the sectors of water supply; sewerage and septage management; storm water  drainage;  green  spaces  and  parks;  and  non-motorized  urban transport. AMRUT 2.0 was launched in the year 2021 in all ULBs/ cities, enabling the cities to become 'self-reliant' and 'water secure'. Providing universal coverage of sewerage and septage management in 500 AMRUT cities  is  one  of  the  major  focus  areas  of  AMRUT  2.0.    Waterbody rejuvenation  and  green  spaces  &  parks  are  other  component  of  the mission.  Under  the  Mission,  States/  UTs  are  empowered  to  select, appraise, prioritize and implement projects.

Under  AMRUT,  Tamil  Nadu  State  has  grounded  445  projects  worth ₹13,339.43 crore which include 18 water supply projects worth ₹7,397.22 crore , 18 sewerage/septage management projects worth ₹5,451.50 crore and 409 green spaces & park projects worth ₹232.61 crore. In Karur Lok Sabha Constituency (Dindigul & Trichy district), the State has taken up 30 projects worth ₹729.25 crore under AMRUT which include 02 sewerage/septage  management  projects  worth  ₹713.07  crore  and  28 green spaces & park projects worth ₹16.18 crore.

Under AMRUT 2.0, the State Water Action Plans of Tamil Nadu comprising of  1,263  projects  worth  ₹14,637.74  crore  have  been  approved  which include 205 water supply projects worth ₹7,675.54 crore, 30 sewerage/septage management projects worth ₹6,623.40 crore, 467 water body rejuvenation projects worth ₹225.83 crore and 561 green spaces & park projects worth ₹112.97 crore have been approved. In Karur Lok Sabha Constituency  (Dindigul,  Karur,  Trichy  and  Pudukkottai  district),  136 projects  worth  ₹1,306.12  crore  ha ve  been  approved  under  AMRUT  2.0, which include 27 water supply projects worth ₹694.28 crore, 03 sewerage/septage management projects worth ₹576.03 crore, 46 waterbody rejuvenation projects worth ₹24.52 crore and 60 green spaces & park projects worth ₹11.2 9 crore. Contracts have been awarded for all 136 projects worth ₹1,409.63 crore of which works worth ₹949.63 crore have been physically completed.

Funds  under  AMRUT/AMRUT  2.0  are  released/mother  sanctioned  to States/UTs and not Constituency/ULBs wise. Under AMRUT, against the committed  Central  Assistance  (CA)  of  ₹4,756.58  crore,  for  projects, ₹4,626.24 crore has been released against which Utilization Certificates (UCs) worth ₹4,397.29 crore have been received. Under AMRUT 2.0, the total allocated CA for the State of Tamil Nadu is ₹4,942 crore. So far funds of ₹2,264.93 crore have been released/ Mother Sanction issued to the State Government  against  w hich  ₹2,191.18  crore  of utilisation  certificate/ expenditure has been incurred.

SCM: Smart City Proposals (SCPs) have been planned at the local level based  on  the  local  needs  of  the  cities,  in  consultation  with  various stakeholders, including citizens, across various sectors. The cities under SCM are being developed based on SCPs received from States/UTs, across various sectors, viz., smart mobility, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH), smart  governance,  smart  energy,  environment,  etc.  approved  by  High Powered Steering Committee (HPSC) chaired by the Chief Secretary.

None of the city from Karur Lok Sabha constituency was selected under SCM. However, Central Financial Assistance of Rs. 5,390 Cr have been released  for  11  cities  viz  Chennai,  Coimbatore,  Erode,  Madurai,  Salem, Thanjavur, Thoothukudi, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli, Tiruppur, and Vellore in Tamil Nadu, out of which Rs. 5,363 Cr has been utilized.

As apprised by the Cities, the delay in completion of some projects can be attributed to varying reasons including, inter alia, legal issues, delay in obtaining clearances from different departments, land acquisition, construction in hilly areas, challenges in vendor and resource availability in  small  &  medium  cities.  The  SCM  has  already  come  to  an  end  on 31.03.2025.

SBM-U 2.0: Sanitation is a State subject. It is the responsibility of States/ ULBs to plan, design and execute sanitation projects in the urban areas of the concerned States/UTs.

MoHUA  supplements  the  efforts  of  States/UTs by providing policy directions, financial and technical support by sharing Manuals/ Standard of Procedures (SoPs) on Solid Waste Management (SWM) & Used Water Management (UWM) and issue various Advisories & Guidelines time to time for choosing appropriate technologies to manage solid and liquid waste.

To meet sanitation related demands, Government of India launched SBMU 2.0 with a vision of achieving Garbage Free Status for all ULBs/cities including Karur Lok Sabha Constituency in the country through scientific management of all fractions of waste. Under SBM-U, funds are released by Government of India to the States/UTs on the basis of action plan duly approved  by  State  Level  Technical  Committee  (SLTC)  submitted  by States/UTs  which  are  further  transmitted  to  ULBs  by  the  concerned State/UT. Constituency-wise details of financial assistance/projects approved is not maintained. Under SBM-U 2.0, State of Tamil Nadu has been allocated ₹3 , 296.70 crore out of which projects having central share of  ₹3 , 261.36  crore  have  been  approved  and  ₹1 , 089.57  crore  (including expenditure under SNA SPARSH) have been released so far.

Details of progress under SBM-U can be accessed at https://www.sbmurban.org/swachh-bharat-mission-progess.

With the introduction of SNA-SPARSH w.e.f. October, 2024, Central Share (CS) funds are provided through an integrated framework of PFMS, State IFMIS and e-kuber platform of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the basis of actual bills/claims raised by the State at various level.

PMAY-U: 'Land' and 'Colonization' are State subjects. Therefore, schemes related  to  housing  for  their  citizens  including  homeless  persons  are implemented  by  States/UTs.  However,  MoHUA  has  been  implementing PMAY-U since 25.06.2015 with an aim to provide all weather pucca houses with basic civic amenities to all eligible urban beneficiaries across the country including Tamil Nadu. The scheme period has been extended up to  30.09.2026  to  facilitate  completion  of  sanctioned  houses  without changing the funding pattern and implementation methodology.

Based on the learnings from the experiences of implementation of PMAYU, MoHUA has revamped the scheme and launched PMAY-U 2.0 'Housing for All' Mission with effect from 01.09.2024 for implementation in urban areas across  the country to support one  crore additional eligible beneficiaries in next five years. PMAY-U 2.0 is implemented through four verticals i.e., Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC), Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP), Affordable Rental Housing (ARH) and Interest Subsidy Scheme (ISS). The scheme guidelines can be accessed at https://pmayurban.gov.in/uploads/guidelines/Operational-Guidelines-of-PMAY-U-2.pdf.

PMAY-U  &  PMAY-U  2.0 are demand  driven scheme. Selection of beneficiaries,  under  various  verticals  preferred  by  the  beneficiaries, formulation of projects and execution including allotment of completed houses to the eligible beneficiaries are done by States/UTs.

The Physical and Financial progress for the Karur Parliament Constituency, Tamil Nadu under PMAY-U & PMAY-U 2.0 are as under:

| Particulars                    | Particulars                       | Particulars           | Achievements   | Achievements                  |
|--------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------|----------------|-------------------------------|
|                                |                                   |                       | Tamil Nadu     | Karur Parliament Constituency |
| Since Financial year (FY) 2019 | Physical Progress of Houses (Nos) | Sanctioned            | 3,16,590       | 3,939                         |
|                                |                                   | Grounded              | 3,32,393       | 3,665                         |
|                                |                                   | Completed/ Delivered* | 4,21,941       | 5,891                         |
|                                | Central Assistance (₹ in Crore)   | Sanctioned            | 25,350.93      | 69.92                         |
|                                |                                   | Released**            | 5,264.01       | 103.12                        |

- **  Includes  Central  Assistance  released  during  the  year  against  houses sanctioned in preceding years.

Urban  Transport:  Urban  Transport  which  is  an  integral  part  of  urban development is a State subject.  Hence respective State Government/UT is responsible for planning, initiating, integration of metro rail project with other  modes  of  public  transport  and  expansion  of  urban  transport infrastructure.  The Central Government considers financial assistance for such projects in cities or urban agglomerates, based on feasibility of the proposal  and  availability  of  resources,  as  and  when  posed  by  the concerned  State  Government/UT.   Central  Government  has  sanctioned Chennai Metro Rail Phase-I and Phase-I Extension projects with 54 kms route length at the sanctioned cost of Rs. 22,149.92 cr. The projects are operational since Feb 2019 and March 2022.

Further,  Central  Goverenment  has  approved  Chennai  Metro  Phase-II project  as  50:50  Joint  Venture  project  for  118.9  km  at  a  cost  of  Rs. 63,246.46 Cr. in October 2024.  As per Sanction order, total contribution from Government of India for Chennai Metro Rail Phase-2 project is Rs. 7,425.9  Cr  towards  Equity  and  Subordinate  Debt. In  addition,  Central Government  is  also  providing  Pass  Through  Assistance  against  the external loan as per Sanction order. Central Government has released a total of Rs. 935.78 Cr , Rs. 1,431.4 Cr and Rs. 14,242.64 Cr since 2019 for implementation of Chennai Metro Rail Projects Phase-I, Phase-I Extension and Phase-II, respectively.

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