Centre Unveils ₹1L-Cr Urban Challenge Fund, Revamped PM-Svanidhi

An urban challenge fund of ₹1 lakh crore to transform cities into "growth hubs"; ₹15,000 crore fund for SWAMIH 2.0 (special window for affordable and mid-income housing) to construct 100,000 "stuck" housing units; and enhanced bank loans and UPI-linked credit cards under the revamped PM SVANidhi (Street Vendors Atma Nirbhar Nidhi) scheme — these were the major announcements made for the urban sector by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech on Saturday.

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NEW DELHI:

The finance minister said that urban development is among the six key areas where the budget aims at "transformative" reforms, along with taxation, the financial sector, the power sector, mining, and regulatory reforms. The budgetary allocation to the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs increased by 52% as compared to the revised estimate of the current fiscal and by 17% to the budgetary estimate for 2024-25.