Cabinet approves construction of 3 crore new houses under PM Awas

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

The Union Cabinet on August 9 approved the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) during 2024-25 to 2028-29, wherein financial assistance will be provided for the construction of houses at existing unit assistance of Rs 1.2 lakh in plain areas and Rs 1.3 lakh in North Eastern Region States and Hill States of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

As per this plan, two crore more houses will be constructed during the next five years, which is expected to benefit 10 crore people.

The total outlay for this is pegged at Rs 3,06,137 crore for 2024-25 to 2028-29, including central share of Rs 2,05,856 crore and state share of Rs 1,00,281 crore.

The remaining 35 lakh houses not completed till March 31, 2024 would be completed to achieve the cumulative target of 2.95 crore houses of previous phase, the government said in a press release.

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The Cabinet also approved Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) 2.0 under which financial assistance will be provided to 1 crore urban poor and middle-class families to construct, purchase or rent a house at an affordable cost in urban areas in next five years.

This includes an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore and government assistance of Rs 2.30 lakh crore.

"In the first 10 years, 4 crore houses were built under PM Awas scheme. Cabinet has now approved decision to built 3 crore new houses. 2 crore for rural areas, and 1 crore for urban areas," Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ashwani Vaishnaw said during a briefing.

In addition, the corpus fund of Credit Risk Guarantee Fund Trust (CRGFT) has been increased from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 3,000 crore to provide benefit of credit risk guarantee on affordable housing loans from banks or Housing Finance Companies.

Moreover, the government also announced Interest Subsidy Scheme, which will provide benefits of subsidy on home loans for economically weaker sections and lower and mid-income group families. Beneficiaries taking loan up to Rs 25 lakh with house value up to Rs 35 lakh will be eligible for 4 percent interest subsidy on first Rs 8 lakh loan up to 12 years tenure. A maximum of Rs 1.8 lakh subsidy will be given to eligible beneficiaries in 5-yearly installments through push button. Beneficiaries can access their accounts through website, OTP or smart cards.

The PM-Awaas scheme is a flagship program of the government that aims
to provide housing at an affordable price to the weaker sections of the society, lower income group people, urban poor, and rural poor.