₹31,000 Crore Approved for Urban Challenge Fund: MoHUA
NEW DELHI: The Urban Challenge Fund has approved projects worth ₹31,000 crore within just 20-25 days after finalizing its guidelines, according to D Thara, additional secretary at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. At a FICCI conference, Thara noted that 44% of the funding for the approved projects is sourced from non-banking financial companies, while public-private partnerships contribute 22%. Bonds represent 5-7% of the financing, with commercial banks providing the remainder. Sanjay Kulshrestha, chairman and managing director of HUDCO, emphasized that cities contribute 60-70% of India’s GDP while occupying only about 3% of its land. He highlighted that the…