The Hudco board has sanctioned Rs 903 crore to cover both housing and urban infrastructure projects. With this, 46 schemes with a project cost of over Rs 1,354 crore and a Hudco loan component of over Rs 903 crore have been sanctioned.

Hudco chairman and managing director V Suresh said that the company would continue to support schemes which are well-conceived, need-based, viable, bankable and self-sustaining in content.

The Hudco board has sanctioned loan for one lakh housing units in urban and rural areas. This includes construction of 42,489 housing for economically weaker sections (EWS) in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat under the centre's 2-million additional housing programme. The loan for EWS will be provided at 9 per centand for low income group (LIG) at 12 per cent.

In Karnataka, 10 schemes under the Ashraya housing programme for the poor have been sanctioned. Here, 20,393 units for EWS in urban and rural areas will be constructed with Hudco's assistance of Rs 38 crore. In Madhya Pradesh, 20,000 EWS units with a loan assistance of Rs 64.80 crore and in Gujarat, 2,087 EWS units with a Rs 5-crore aid have been sanctioned.

Under Hudco's normal housing operations, 13 schemes involving a loan of Rs 294.50 crore have been sanctioned for Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Kerala. These schemes would facilitate construction of over 39,000 housing units.

Under its urban infrastructure portfolios, 18 schemes covering roads, bridges, solid waste management, water supply, area development, commercial and social infrastructure have been sanctioned. Cumulatively, they involve a project cost of Rs 750 crore and Hudco's loan component is Rs 452 crore.

Hudco's loan portion will be Rs 183.92 crore in thetransport sector with schemes worth Rs 293.40 crore to be implemented in Gujarat, Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

Hudco has also sanctioned three schemes for co-generation based on bagasse in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka. These envisage generation of surplus power of the order of 13.7 mw, 7.75 mw and 5 mw respectively. Hudco's loan component in these schemes will be over Rs 60 crore. Suresh said that Hudco's total sanctions have totalled Rs 2,765 crore during the current fiscal.