MANGALURU: One of the slowest states in completing rural housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), Karnataka has proved to be a real laggard in the field. This was highlighted by several Members of Parliament in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament.
According to queries by multiple MPs, the primary reason cited is the low unit cost sanctioned for house construction, which they argue is insufficient to meet current material and labour costs. According to sources, the lack of available land is also cited as one of the major reasons behind the poor performance.
According to data shared by the Ministry of Rural Development in response to a Lok Sabha query, Karnataka was allocated 9.44 lakh houses under PMAY-G since its launch in April 2016. However, as of August 13, 2025, only 5.25 lakh houses have been sanctioned, and a mere 1.58 lakh completed. This reflects a completion rate of just 30.28%, significantly lower than the national average of 73.5%.
Other southern states have shown relatively better performance. Tamil Nadu where free land is provided to landless labourers has completed around 6.48 lakh houses out of 7.42 lakh sanctioned, achieving a completion rate of approximately 87.3%. Andhra Pradesh, though allocated fewer houses, has a completion rate of about 36% with 89,061 homes built out of 2.46 lakh sanctioned. Kerala, on the other hand, has lagged significantly with just 34,388 houses completed out of 76,278 sanctioned, reflecting a rate of around 45%.
The MPs expressed concern that the scheme’s financial support - currently around Rs 1.2 lakh per unit in plain areas does not reflect the real cost of construction in today’s economy. They pointed out that rising prices of building materials, transportation, among others have made it nearly impossible for rural beneficiaries to build livable homes within the current outlay.
Despite these concerns, the Ministry of Rural Development clarified in its official response that there is no proposal under consideration to increase the unit cost of houses under PMAY-G. The government maintains that the scheme functions through convergence with other rural welfare initiatives such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which offers additional unskilled labour, and Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin for toilet construction.