Kumar Bahukhandi
Chhattisgarh Principal Secretary, Urban Administration and Development, Sonmoni Borah (centre), and SUDA CEO Sumit Agrawal meet Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Satyendra Singh in New Delhi on Friday, August 21, 2026, during discussions on PMAY-Urban 2.0, AMRUT, the Urban Challenge Fund and other urban development programmes-Photo Credit:channel24india.com via CG/DPR
Principal Secretary Sonmoni Borah meets Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Satyendra Singh in New Delhi; discusses ₹1,500-crore provision under Urban Challenge Fund and implementation of key urban missions
Key Factors
- Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary appreciates Chhattisgarh’s implementation of PMAY-Urban 2.0
- Sonmoni Borah briefs Centre on PMAY-U, AMRUT 2.0, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and Urban Challenge Fund
- Chhattisgarh has a ₹1,500-crore provision out of ₹6,000 crore central allocation under the Urban Challenge Fund
- State seeks expansion of AMRUT to urban local bodies not currently covered
- Centre releases ₹100 crore following the state’s request for the next AMRUT instalment
- Projects identified for Raipur and Bhilai-Durg under the Urban Challenge Fund
New Delhi: Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Satyendra Singh on Friday, August 21, 2026, appreciated Chhattisgarh’s implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0 (PMAY-U 2.0), during a meeting with the state’s Principal Secretary for Urban Administration and Development, Sonmoni Borah.
Borah briefed the Union Secretary on the progress of major urban development programmes in Chhattisgarh and sought greater central support for expanding AMRUT and strengthening infrastructure across the state’s urban local bodies.
The meeting covered PMAY-Urban 2.0, AMRUT 2.0, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and the Urban Challenge Fund, besides financing and implementation issues affecting urban local bodies.
Borah informed the Union Secretary about the progress achieved under PMAY-Urban 2.0. According to the state government, Singh expressed satisfaction with the progress and appreciated Chhattisgarh’s effective implementation of the housing programme.
Borah also presented the state’s action plan for completing the remaining works under the first phase of PMAY-Urban within the extended implementation period.
From Housing to Urban Infrastructure, Chhattisgarh Seeks Stronger Centre-State Push
A substantial part of the discussions focused on the Urban Challenge Fund, under which Chhattisgarh has a provision of ₹1,500 crore from a ₹6,000-crore central allocation referred to by the state.
Projects identified under the fund include the Ganj Mandi project in Raipur, a tertiary sewage treatment plant, redevelopment of a new market and the old municipal building, along with a proposed waste-to-energy plant for the Bhilai-Durg cluster under a hybrid model.
Borah informed the Union Secretary that the state was working with HUDCO on a roadmap for financial assistance and capacity building and expressed Chhattisgarh’s commitment to submitting proposals to the Centre within the prescribed timeframe.
The discussions also produced an immediate development on AMRUT 2.0.
Borah presented the progress of ongoing projects and shared a phased plan to complete the works over the next one-and-a-half years. He informed the Centre that the ₹100 crore received during the current financial year 2026-27 had been fully utilised and requested release of the next instalment.
According to the state government, the Centre subsequently released ₹100 crore to Chhattisgarh following the request.
Borah also urged the Union government to extend AMRUT to those urban local bodies in Chhattisgarh where projects under the mission have not yet been sanctioned and sought additional financial support for the expansion.
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 was another major subject of the meeting. Borah briefed Singh on component-wise progress and said the state was preparing a special strategy to complete ongoing works within the stipulated period.
He also drew the Centre’s attention to practical difficulties faced by several Chhattisgarh urban local bodies because of their small size and relatively low population density, factors that can complicate implementation of centrally designed urban programmes.
Singh assured the state of all possible cooperation from the Union government, according to the state government’s account of the meeting.
The discussions assume significance as Chhattisgarh attempts to simultaneously expand urban housing, water and sanitation infrastructure, waste management and redevelopment projects while ensuring that smaller urban bodies are not left outside major national urban missions.
Sumit Agrawal, Chief Executive Officer of the State Urban Development Agency (SUDA), was also present during the meeting.
