Light House Projects (LHPs) 2021 | UPSC
HEADLINES:
Prime Minister’s New Year gift – heralding an era of adopting globally best new construction technologies as our own
WHY IN NEWS:
Prime Minister lays foundation stone of 6 light house projects- gives away PMAY-(u) awards.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Schemes
ISSUE:
LIGHT HOUSE PROJECTS
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- LHPs with allied infrastructure facilities being initiated at Indore, Rajkot, Chennai, Ranchi, Agartala and Lucknow.
- States/cities selected through a national challenge.
- Nearly 1000 houses to be constructed at each location cost-effective and eco-friendly.
- 1.09 cr houses sanctioned under PMAY(u) so far -construction in various stages in over 70 Lakh houses—nearly 40 Lakh houses delivered so far.
- Five incubation centers set up under affordable sustainable housing accelerators – India (Asha-India) initiative also launched.
- ‘NAVARITIH’ – certificate Course on innovative construction technologies released.
OVERVIEW
- LHPs are model housing projects with houses built with shortlisted alternate technology suitable to the geo-climatic and hazard conditions of the region.
- This will demonstrate and deliver ready to live houses with speed, economy and with better quality of construction in a sustainable manner.
- Approvals will be accorded through a fast track process by the concerned State Government.
- These LHPs shall serve as LIVE Laboratories for different aspects of Transfer of technologies to field application, such as planning, design, construction practices, testing etc.
- It will be available for both faculty and students, Builders, Professionals of Private and Public sectors and other stakeholders involved in such construction.
- Six Technology providers have been selected through rigorous online bidding process for construction of Light House Projects (LHPs) at six differnet locations in six states.
SALIENT FEATURES
- LHP, shall mean a model housing project with approximate 1,000 houses built with shortlisted alternate technology suitable to the geo-climatic and hazard conditions of the region.
- This will demonstrate and deliver ready to live houses with speed, economy and with better quality of construction in a sustainable manner.
- Constructed housing under LHP will include on site infrastructure development such as internal roads, pathways, common green area etc.
- Houses under LHP will be designed keeping in view the dimensional requirements laid down in National Building Code (NBC) 2016 with good aesthetics, proper ventilation etc.
- Convergence with other existing centrally sponsored schemes and Missions such as Smart Cities, AMRUT, Ujjwalla, Ujala, Make in India etc shall be ensured during the designing of LHPs at each site.
- The structural details shall be designed to meet the durability and safety requirements of applicable loads including earthquakes and cyclone and flood as per Indian/International standards.
APPROACH
- Cluster design may include innovative system of water supply, drainage and rain water harvesting, renewable energy sources with special focus on solar energy.
- The period of construction will be maximum 12 months from the date of handing over of sites to the successful bidder after all statutory approvals.
- Approvals will be accorded through a fast track process by the concerned State/UT Government.
- A further incentive for early completion is being provided wherein technology providers who complete LHPs in less than 12 months will receive USD 2,000 for each month less than stipulated period of 12 months.
- For the subsequent allotment of constructed houses under LHPs to the eligible beneficiaries in States/ UTs, procedures of existing guidelines of PMAY (U) will be followed.
SIGNIFICANCE
- The initiative will lead to a new era in the construction technology in India.
- To recognize the outstanding contribution and performances,Prime Minister also gave away the annual awards for excellence in six categories for implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Urban (PMAY-U).
- A total of 88 beneficiaries from across the country were felicitated on the occasion.
- The PMAY(U) awards were instituted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in 2019.
- Bringing people and technology together, LHPs will pave the way for a new eco- system where globally proven technologies will be adopted for cost-effective, environment friendly and speedier construction.
- This technology revolution will help fulfil the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Housing for All’ by 2022.
- The construction needs of a rapidly urbanizing India will be catered to through the use of cutting-edge and alternate global technology innovations.
FUNDING PATTERN
6 NEW LHP’S
The LHPs with allied infrastructure facilities have been launched at :
- Indore (Madhya Pradesh)
- Rajkot (Gujarat)
- Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
- Ranchi (Jharkhand)
- Agartala (Tripura)
- Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)
TECHNOLOGY
- LHP at Indore will showcase ‘Prefabricated Sandwich Panel System’ that originated in China.
- The one at Rajkot will be ‘Monolithic Concrete Construction using Tunnel Formwork’, a technology that comes from France.
- ‘Precast Concrete Construction System’ technology will be used at Chennai, that has come from Finland and USA.
- ‘Structural Steel Frame with Light Gauge Steel Infill Panels’ system from New Zealand will be used at Agartala.
- The LHP at Lucknow will have a technology from Canada called ‘PVC Stay In Place Formwork System’.
- LHPs will serve as live laboratories for facilitating transfer of technology to the field and its further replication.
CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY YEAR
- Besides LHPs, a Certificate Course on Innovative Construction Technologies namely NAVARITIH (New, Affordable, Validated, Research Innovation Technologies for Indian Housing) was released.
- A Compendium of 54 innovative housing construction technologies which were identified through GHTC-India which were released by the Prime Minister at the event.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- These will provide a major fillip to indigenous start-ups, innovators and such stakeholders.
SOURCES: PIB | Light House Projects (LHPs) 2021 | UPSC
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