Rs 1 Lakh crore granted for Affordable Housing

To boost affordable housing and achieve the vision of Housing for All by 2022, the government have undertaken several initiatives, such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) that aims to build 1 crore homes in urban and rural India by 2022.

Affordable housing has also been accorded infrastructure status, ensuring that developers in this segment have access to cheaper loans.

The Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme for the Middle Income Group (CLSS for MIG) was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 31, 2016 and was earlier extended twice till March 2019. The government in the last week of December 2018 extended the interest subsidy scheme till March 2020 for first time to urban home buyers whose annual income is between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 18 lakh.

Till now, over 93,000 people from this income group (MIG) have availed the Rs 1,960 crore interest subsidy from the Centre, which has been disbursed through banks. Overall, until December 30 this year, around 3.39 lakh beneficiaries have availed the CLSS under the PMAY (Urban) and the total subsidy released was Rs 7,543 crore.

For the MIG I category, which consists of individuals with an annual income of Rs 6-12 lakh, an interest subsidy of 4 percent is provided on a loan of up to Rs 9 lakh. For the MIG II category, which is made up of individuals with an annual income of Rs 12-18 lakh, an interest subsidy of 3 percent is given on a loan of up to Rs 12 lakh.  The benefits are typically up to Rs 2.67 lakh on home loans.

As per the data shared by the ministry of urban affairs and housing, around 68.5 lakh houses have been approved so far for construction under the PMAY (U). Out of these, 35.67 lakh houses are under various stages of construction of which 12.45 lakh houses have already been completed. The total investment involved is Rs 3,56,397 crore. An amount of Rs 33,455 crore has already been released to states and union territories out of the approved total central assistance of Rs 1,00,275 crore.