Stating that the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) is one of the largest housing schemes of the world, covering complete urban India, the Economic Survey 2020 said out of 1.03 crore houses approved, 60 lakh have been grounded for construction, of which 32 lakh houses have been completed and delivered.
The survey said the scheme was launched in June, 2015 to provide "pucca" house with basic amenities to all eligible urban poor. The States/UTs were mandated to conduct demand survey to estimate the housing demand in their respective cities/towns.
"So far, a validated demand of 1.12 crore houses has been registered," it said.
“The scheme is rapidly moving towards achieving the vision for providing a pucca house to every household by 2022,” it said.
"Over 60 percent of India’s current GDP comes from cities and towns. The construction sector accounts for 8.2 percent of GDP which includes housing and employs about 12 percent of the workforce. Therefore, the investment made under PMAY(U) not only provides pucca houses to the eligible families to achieve the goal of 'Housing for All' but also triggers multiplier effect on the overall economy," the survey said.
Over and above the year-on-year budgetary provisions, a separate mechanism through creation of National Urban Housing Funds (NUHF) has been approved by the Union Cabinet to mobilise resources through Extra Budgetary Resources to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore for funding PMAY(U).
"Such arrangement has enabled the ministry to provide Central assistance in a time bound manner for uninterrupted progress of projects with States/UTs and central nodal agencies," the document said.
The Housing for All by 2022 initiative was launched by the Modi government within five months of assuming office. It’s all about ensuring a home for every Indian by 2022. To boost affordable housing and achieve the vision of Housing for all by 2022, the government (Central and State) have undertaken several initiatives, such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) that aims to build one 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 urban home buyers who have an annual income between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 18 lakh.
The carpet area of a housing unit was initially revised to up to 120 sq m and up to 150 sq m for MIG I and MIG II respectively in November, 2017 and further enhanced to up to 160 sq m and up to 200 sq m for MIG I and MIG II, respectively in June, 2018.
The pre-budget survey 2020 also noted that Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) are two important schemes for achieving the target of housing for all by 2022.
More than four times increase in the number of houses completed in a year under PMAY-G, from 11.95 lakh in 2014- 15 to 47.33 lakh in 2018-19, signifies government’s commitment of housing for all. Under its Phase-I from 2016-17 to 2018- 19, the scheme has delivered 86.59 lakh completed houses against the target of 1 crore as on January 17, 2020.
Under Phase-II (2019-20 to 2021-22), against the cumulative target of 1.95 crore houses, a total of 5,27,878 houses have been delivered under PMAY-G (as on January 17, 2020).
Covering a range of social groups, comprising senior citizens, construction workers, domestic workers, artisans, differently-abled (Divyang), transgender and leprosy patients, the scheme has promoted social inclusiveness, and improved upon women empowerment by giving them ownership of the house, the survey notes.
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