Surat became the first city to finalise a project under the affordable rental housing scheme for migrant workers announced by the Centre in May, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Durga Shanker Mishra said. The Affordable Rental Housing Complex (ARHC) scheme under the Ministry’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 14 as a part of the government’s economic package in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the scheme, private firms will be given unoccupied government housing projects to refurbish and operate as rental housing. Mr. Mishra said the Surat Municipal Corporation had become the first city in the country to finalise an ARHC for migrant labour with 393 one-bedroom flats in the city’s Sachin Area. “These flats were completed in 2014 by SUDA & lying vacant. Shripad Consultants, Surat, won the bid under Model-1 of ARHC. They retrofit, maintain & operate the complex to house migrant labour and pay ₹18 crore positive premium to SUDA over 25 years,” Mr. Mishra said in a tweet. “...This will provide dignified living to migrant workers, who are coming back to cities, close to their workplaces & will boost economic activities in multifarious ways,” he said in another tweet. Mr Mishra urged other States and cities to finalise bids for such schemes.