Bhubaneswar: The state government will provide houses to people in Bhubaneswar at affordable rates.

This was revealed by Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) Minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra on the occasion of Local Self-Governance Day today.

According to the minister, the state government is planning to construct and provide houses to people in an affordable range of Rs 14 lakh to Rs 50 lakh in Bhubaneswar.

In the first phase, the government will provide houses to the families of Economically Weaker Section (EWS).

“In Bhubaneswar, one requires around Rs 1 crore to buy a house. Many people from the EWS category are unable to buy houses for themselves in the capital city. Taking this into consideration, the state government has decided to build and provide houses to people at affordable rates,” said the minister.

The minister had earlier announced that the state government is planning to take up housing projects in the city to provide dwelling units to people at cheap rates. The housing projects would be taken up as part of the ‘Greater Bhubaneswar and Better Bhubaneswar’ initiative, he said.

Under the scheme, the state government will provide houses to the families of EWS and middle-income group (MIG), added the minister.