NEW DELHI: Concerned over the slow pace of construction of affordable houses in the country, PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday exhorted officials for speeding up construction. He directed the ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to give a fillip to construction of affordable houses using 3D construction technology in 25 major cities to begin with.

While reviewing progress of implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) during  20th PRAGATI, the PM suggested to organize a workshop with global companies associated with 3D construction technology, Indian companies and other stakeholders to promote this new technology that enables quick construction of houses based on pre-programming.

Prime Minister’s direction came when he was informed that about 1.25 lakh houses under PM Awas Yojana (Urban) are being built using pre-fabricated technologies.

Officials said that 3D technology in construction was introduced only few years ago in the year 2011-12 and it is frequently used by many developed countries. It enables fast construction and also reduces the cost of housing.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana was launched by PM Narendra Modi in June 2015 and the government aims to construct affordable housing for all by constructing 20 million houses between by 2022. 

PM also noted that the experience of ‘Competition challenge’ adopted under Smart City Mission proved useful and other departments also need to consider adopting this challenge route.

On the day CPWD turned 163 years, grievance redressal in CPWD also was reviewed. PM was informed that during the last two years satisfaction level in respect of CPWD services has considerably improved further to introduction of new maintenance protocol, CPWD Sewa and Mobile App. Out of the 6,000 complaints received since April 1, 2014, 92% have been addressed to and only 10% have rated the services as poor.

Meanwhile, union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu stressed on the need for innovation, transparency and efficient delivery of services to remain relevant and increase visibility. He urged CPWD to ‘’adopt new energy efficient building materials and technologies to promote sustainable and environment friendly habitats in the country at an affordable cost”. 

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has commissioned a study to consider various options to improve efficiency of service delivery and manpower utilization. Ernest & Young is likely to submit report in this regard soon, said an official.