Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu Wednesday said that housing for all and reduction in interest rates on home loans will be his top priorites.Soon after taking charge of the ministry, Naidu said that interest rate reduction is necessary if housing for all has to be achieved."Housing is for all by 2020 is our top priority area and I will be taking up this matter with my colleague (Arun Jaitley) who is the finance minister," he told reporters."We will intervene and bring down the interest rates for housing a little. That will be my priority."
Naidu, a Bharatiya Janata Party Rajya Sabha member, also said that his ministry will aim at creating 100 smart cities, twin cities, improving infrastructure in satellite towns among other. During the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, housing was top priority, he pointed out."Then the interest rate was reduced from 11 percent to 7 percent," he said."Today again the interest rate for housing has gone up to 10-11 percent.""If you want to achieve housing for all by 2020, you need to have interest reduction... Affordable housing for all is my favourite agenda, but it is easier said than done," he added.