NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her seventh budget presentation on Tuesday announced a scheme to build three crore houses across the country’s rural and urban belt as part of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

A humungous total of Rs 10 lakh crore rupees have been earmarked for the project which is expected to benefit one crore urban economically backward people while Rs 2.2 lakh crore has also been allocated as central allocation for an urban housing project.

Nirmala Sitharaman said that Rs 3 lakh crore has been earmarked for the upliftment of women and Rs 2.66 lakh crore has been allocated for infrastructure and rural development.

100 large cities in India will get new water supplies, sewage treatment and solid waste management projects.

The Prime minister touted the budget to empower the rural and neo-middle class section of India. The PM congratulated the finance minister and her team for the ‘visionary budget’ which he said would bring prosperity to people in all strata of the society.