Over 47.6 lakh houses sanctioned for poor under PMAY scheme, says government

Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), centre has sanctioned around 47.6 lakh houses at an investment of 2.7 lakh crore, said government on Wednesday.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Durga Shanker Mishra, secretary, ministry of housing and urban affairs, said by the end of this financial year, government will be sanctioning over 80 lakh houses and so far, it has completed 7 lakh houses.

Mishra said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a commitment to the country that when nation celebrate the 75th anniversary of Indian independence, everybody must have a house.

Let me correct that. The number was never 2 crore. In 2011, a special group in planning commission estimated that around 1.78 crore houses to be built across the nation. But this numbers has been re-validated from different states and the number comes to around 1 crore. So, 2022 is the target for completing one crore houses. Out of one crore houses so far, we have already sanctioned 47.56 lakh houses in four different verticals.

First vertical, is beneficiary led construction, where the beneficiary stays in their own house and they may be improving the house or reconstructing a new house, because the current house is not adequate or it doesn’t have enough facility or area. We have already sanctioned around 25.8 lakh houses there.

Second is affordable housing in partnership, where public agencies or the private agencies in partnership with the government are constructing multi-storied complexes, housing for the economically weaker section – the Lower Income Group (LIG). Here, we have already sanctioned 17.8 lakh houses.

Third is slum redevelopment houses, where we demolish and give temporary houses for those living in the slums. We have already sanctioned nearly 2.4 lakh houses there.

Fourth is the credit-linked subsidy scheme, where we go through the banks. Here, our National Housing Bank and Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (HUDCO) are the nodal agencies and from them, money goes to the respective banks, housing financing banks or the other banks who are participating. The beneficiaries are getting the houses from the buildup houses and there we have nearly 1.69 lakh houses sanctioned.

The one which you are mentioning right now, where the area has been increased, this is in the credit linked subsidy scheme. You may be aware that on December 1, 2016 Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that earlier this scheme was only for the economically weaker section and the lower income group. Later, this facility was extended to the middle income group. Category one, a person with an income up to Rs 12 lakh per annum and category two, with an income up to Rs 18 lakh. There, the total area allowed was 90 square meter for MIG-I (Middle Income Group) and 110 square meter for MIG-II. This was reviewed later on the demand of the industry and this was increased to 120 and 150 square meter respectively.

Further again, we received requests from the industry, real estate agency and especially in the smaller cities, the tier-2 and tier-3 cities because this scheme is applicable all over the country. Considering these requests, as people can afford bigger area in smaller cities, we issued a new notification yesterday, that in MIG-I the total area is allowed to be 160 square meter which comes around 1750 square feet and MIG-II, which is for people with an income of Rs 18 lakh per annum, has been increased to 200 square meter which is around 2,150 square feet.

If you take the total Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), under all the four verticals, so far we have sanctioned 47.6 lakh houses and it’s an investment to the tune of 2.7 lakh crore. Out of that, the central government assistance is to the tune of 73,000 crore plus and we have already released nearly Rs 25,6000 crore.

The state governments are also putting in some money. It varies from the state to state. Some of the states are putting Rs 50,000, some are putting as much as Rs 6 lakh depending on their own resources. So I would say, huge subsidy for three verticals, that is beneficiary led construction, affordable housing and slum redevelopment.

As regards to credit linked subsidy scheme, this is going directly to the banks. The subsidies going directly to the banks and it is a direct benefit transfer. The amount is credited in the account of the person who is taking the loan.

For economically weaker sections (EWS) and low-income group (LIG) this amount is Rs 2.67 lakh. For MIG-I, it is Rs 2.35 lakh and for MIG-II it is Rs 2.30 lakh. This lead to interest subvention of 6.5% for the EWS and LIG, 4% for MIG-I and 3% for MIG-II. This interest subvention leads to reduction in their equated monthly installment (EMI). The EMI gets reduced by Rs 2,500 per month.

As on date we have released subsidy to the tune of Rs 25,596 crore. There is absolutely no problem. Last year, the government constituted National Housing Fund; this to help so that there is no shortage of money. We created this fund of Rs 60,000 crore. From last year, we released only Rs 11,500 crore and there is paucity. We will support this. The Prime Minister Modi has given a commitment that when we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of Indian independence, everybody must have a house. That is what we are working towards and so far the progress is good and I am sure by end of this financial year, we will be sanctioning over 80 lakh houses. The progress is good and so far we have completed 7 lakh houses.