New Delhi:Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced a 66 per cent hike in the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (PMAY) outlay to Rs 79,000 crore.

Presenting the Union Budget 2023-24, she said states and cities will be encouraged to take up urban planning.

She also said that the Union government will create Urban Infrastructure Development Fund on the lines of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund and it will be managed by the National Housing Bank.

The central government will spend Rs 10,000 crore per year for urban infrastructure development fund.

All cities and towns will be enabled for 100 per cent transition of sewers and septic tanks from manhole to machine hole mode, the minister added.

PTI

Press Trust of India