Global Housing Technology Challenge-India (GHTC-India)

GHTC-India for Affordable Urban Housing

TH | Prelims + Mains | Government policies for development in various sectors > Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs

• Launched in 2019, the Global Housing Technology Challenge-India (GHTC-India) is undertaken under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban (PMAY-U).
• GHTC aims to fast-track the construction & meet the target of constructing 2 crore houses by 2022.
• GHTC focuses on identifying & mainstreaming proven technologies for lighthouse projects.
• It also focuses on spotting potential tech through Affordable Sustainable Housing Accelerators (ASHA).

What are Light house projects?

• LHPs are model housing projects with houses built with shortlisted innovative alternate technology suitable to the geo-climatic & hazard conditions of the region.
• The LHPs are being constructed at Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Rajkot (Gujarat), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Agartala (Tripura) & Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh).
• They comprise about 1000 houses at each location along with allied infrastructure facilities.
• LHPs deliver houses with speed, economy & with better quality of construction in a sustainable manner.
• These LHPs will provide the scope for incubating new technologies for construction & innovation.
• The period of construction is maximum 12 months.
• Approvals will be accorded through a fast-track process by the concerned states (cooperative federalism).
• Six Technology providers have been selected through online bidding process for construction of LHPs.

LHP Location	Technology Selected (names not important; they are just for understanding)
Indore	Prefabricated Sandwich Panel System
Rajkot	Monolithic Concrete Construction
Chennai	Precast Concrete Construction System- Precast components assembled at site
Ranchi	Precast Concrete Construction System-3D Precast Volumetric
Agartala	Light Gauge Steel Structural System & Pre-engineered Steel Structural System
Lucknow	Stay In-place Formwork System
These technologies will be sourced from various developed countries like France, Germany, U.S., etc.

Other measures by the government towards affordable housing

• The new Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act (RERA) is aimed at protecting the buyers.
• Taxes on affordable & regular houses has been reduced from 8 to 1 percent & GST from 12 to 5 per cent.
• Central rental housing complex project was conceived to address the issues faced by migrant labourers.