Chandigarh, March 25 -- The council of ministers on Tuesday approved an amendment in the Affordable Housing Policy of August 19, 2013, as amended from time to time under section 9A of Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975. An official spokesperson said the rates of allotment of apartment units stands prescribed in clause 5(i) of the 2013 policy. These rates were approved in 2013 and subsequently revised in 2021 and 2023. The spokesperson said that representations were received from industrial bodies like BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industries etc. for increase in the allotment rates owing to increased cost of land, building materials labour etc. making it difficult for the developers to build affordable units. The spokesperson said the representation was examined and to extend the benefits of Affordable Group Housing (AGH) policy to the targeted beneficiaries, it was felt that in order to encourage affordable group housing projects, the allotment rates for the apartment units under AGH projects across Haryana be increased on an average by 10% to 12%. Thus, for areas under Gurgaon Development Plan, the new maximum allotment rate shall be Rs.5,575 per square foot. For Faridabad and Sohna development plans, the maximum allotment rate shall be Rs.5,450 per square foot of carpet area. For other high and medium potential towns, the new maximum allotment rate shall be Rs.5,050 per square foot while for the low potential towns, the maximum allotment rate shall be Rs.4,250 per square foot.htc...