The interim Union Budget 2024-25 on February 1 allocated Rs 80,671 crore for the flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), giving a further boost to the government’s programme to provide affordable housing.
Presenting the Union Budget on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that despite the challenges due to COVID, implementation of PM Awas Yojana (Grameen) continued and the government is close to achieving the target of three crore houses. Two crore more houses will be taken up in the next five years to meet the requirement arising from increase in the number of families, she added.
In budget estimates for Budget 2023-24, the government had allocted Rs 79,590 crore for PMAY. However, the allocation was revised to Rs 54,103 crore in the revised estimates.
Scheme for middle class:
During the budget speech, Sitharaman said that the government will launch a scheme to help deserving sections of the middle class “living in rented houses, or slums, or chawls and unauthorized colonies” to buy or build their own houses.
The PMAY scheme was launched in June 2015, a it aims to provide pucca houses with basic amenities to all eligible urban beneficiaries.
Also read: Budget promises to set up 2 crore affordable houses in 5 years
The scheme seeks to resolve the urban housing shortage among low and middle-income groups and promote homeownership among women. The programme has been extended to December 31, 2024, to complete the houses sanctioned till March 31, 2022.
Developers welcome move:
"Under PM Awaas Yojana - Grameen, the announcement to build 2 crore additional houses in the next 5 years to cater to growing demand and announcement of a housing scheme to help deserving sections of the middle class to buy or build their own houses is encouraging and will aid in the growth of the housing market," said Boman Irani, of listed real estate firm Keystone Realtors and President CREDAI National, an apex body of developers.
"We welcome the government's aim to construct 2 crore affordable housing in the form PMAY (rural) scheme. The focus on affordable housing will give required push to urbanisation in outskirts of tier-2 and tier-3 towns amid home loan interest rates expected to go down in coming months," said Vidip Jatia, MD of the listed company Supreme Holdings and Hospitality (India) Ltd, which develops properties under the brand Belmac in Panvel and Pune.
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