Bengaluru : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has agreed to distribute 2.32 lakh houses to the beneficiaries of the state free of cost as this project has been lying since last so many years, said Housing and Minorities Welfare Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan pm Friday.

Talking to the reporters here, on Friday, the minister said that this project being executed jointly by the Slums Development Board and the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation has been lying 'idle' due to non-payment of the share of the beneficiaries.

"Now the government has decided to bear the share of the beneficiaries. This would be the sixth guarantee of the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government and all the 2.32 lakh houses would be completed before the end of the next year," he said.

The minister said the CM had given this assurance on the dais of the function held in connection with the Karnataka Sambrama program held in Hampi on Thursday.

The cost of the project which was around Rs 8,000 crore, would be borne by the government in a phased manner.

"A meeting with the Finance Department officials in this regard will be held next week. This decision of the CM would give solace to 2.42 lakh families. Those who were worried for the non-availability of the bank loan would be totally relieved. The cost of construction of each unit would be RS 7 lakh out of which the state and union governments would give subsidies up to Rs 3 lakhs and the beneficiaries were supposed to pay Rs 4 lakh. But now the state government would bear that amount which was supposed to be paid by the beneficiaries," Zameer Ahmed said.