Bhubaneswar, Nov. 21: The state government is yet to deliver on its promise to construct 15,000 affordable houses at Gothapatna, which is fast emerging as an important locality on the city outskirts.

The project, which was announced in April last year, had proposed to construct houses on 100 acres at Gothapatna. The 15,000 affordable houses under the scheme were to be sold in the price range of Rs 3.5-15.6 lakh. However, sources said that till date only 20 acres have been identified. The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) is the nodal agency for the project.

Senior administrative-cum-public relation officer of the BDA Madhumita Rath said: “The revenue department will provide us the land. The demarcation is in progress and about 20 acres has been demarcated so far. Once the boundary wall construction is over, the first phase work will start.’’

Sanjay Nayak, a resident of Ravi Talkies Road, said: “As an entrepreneur, I think the state government should actively involve itself in building affordable houses around the city as the average price of a house being sold by private builders right now is more than Rs 30 lakh.’’

A survey carried out by the housing and urban development department last year had found out that more than 80 per cent of the people in the state capital cannot pay more than Rs 20 lakh for their houses and to cater to the needs of the low and medium income groups, the city requires an investment of around Rs 1,680 crore. To ensure successful implementation of the plan, the government is now thinking of involving private players as well.

On April 9 last year, the then housing and urban development minister, Debiprasad Mishra, had announced the project to build houses for economically weaker sections (EWS), low income group (LIG), low medium income group (LMIG) and medium income group (MIG) at Gothapatna. The project also involves development of a dedicated bus corridor or bus rapid transport system, water supply network, power supply, sewerage pipelines and other amenities so that the people can avail all urban services for quality living.

With the establishment of several business management colleges of national and international repute and International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) and a proposal by the state government to include Gothapatna as one of the possible locations for the Indian Institute of Management, the locality is fast gaining importance.

A senior BDA official said development of affordable houses was on the agenda of the development authority and the empowered committee on infrastructure (ECI) chaired by the chief secretary would monitor the progress of such housing schemes. At present, the city needs 60,000 affordable houses.

Sources said that the government planned to build 30,000 housing units at Gothapatna on the 100 acres. Of this 15,000 will be built in the affordable category.

Real-estate developer Umesh Patnaik said: “The state government should adopt a policy so that real-estate developers can come forward with their products and for that land should be made available as is the practice in Gujarat and Rajasthan.’’