NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has sanctioned 1.41 lakh additional houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0 (PMAY-U2.0) scheme. The decision was taken during the meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) chaired by Secretary, MoHUA, Srinivas Katikithala.
With the latest approvals of additional houses across 14 states and Union Territories (UTs), the total number of homes sanctioned under the scheme now exceeds 10 lakh. These approvals mark another milestone in the government’s mission to ensure dignified living and home ownership for urban poor and underprivileged communities, the ministry said in a statement.
The committee also reviewed the progress of PMAY-U 2.0 and discussed strategies to enhance the implementation of the scheme while ensuring timely completion of houses. The newly sanctioned houses span across Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Haryana, Odisha, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
During the meeting, Katikithala emphasised the importance of accelerating occupancy post-construction and ensuring that new housing projects are backed by proper infrastructure, including roads and public transportation. “After completion of houses under the scheme, ensure that there is accelerated occupancy. Projects should be finalised in places where there is adequate infrastructure, roads, public transportation and connectivity to ensure ease of living for beneficiaries,” said the secretary.
The joint secretary of the ‘Housing for All’, Kuldip Narayan, apprised the secretary about the status of implementation of PMAY-U 2.0. He said that states and UTs should focus on grounding and fast-tracking the completion of houses.
“To support the financial needs of the beneficiaries, easy access to loan or loan melas should be organised which will help the beneficiaries to complete their houses on time. Further, the states and UTs should encourage beneficiaries to complete their houses on time and address the bottlenecks, which is delaying the construction process,” Narayan added.
He also mentioned that there should be a regular campaign on the grounding and completion of PMAY-U houses to monitor the progress.
According to the ministry, in the meeting held on Wednesday, about 76,976 houses have been sanctioned for women, including single women, widows, and females who are separated, underscoring the Government’s resolve to empower women with access to a safe and dignified living. Additionally, for the welfare of the senior citizens, 13,509 houses have been sanctioned.
Furthermore, catering to the housing needs of transgenders, seven houses have been allotted to them. Among the different underprivileged groups, 29,131 houses have been sanctioned for the scheduled caste (SC), 6,561 houses for scheduled tribe (ST), and 74,291 for the beneficiaries belonging to Other Backward Class (OBC).
So far, under PMAY-U 2.0, more than 6.31 lakh houses have been allotted to women beneficiaries, amongst which 70,794 beneficiaries are either widows, or females who are separated or unmarried. PMAY-U 2.0 has also sanctioned 163 dwelling units to transgenders. Additionally, 1.04 lakh houses have been allotted to senior citizens. While 2.20 lakh houses have been sanctioned for SC beneficiaries, 51,181 are ST beneficiaries whereas 5.35 lakh are OBC beneficiaries.
PMAY-U 2.0 focuses on providing dignified living to eligible urban beneficiaries and promotes inclusivity and contributes to making an equitable society by helping the urban poor, vulnerable sections of society gain access to affordable pucca houses which will improve their living standards, the ministry said in the statement. The scheme also promotes women empowerment by sanctioning houses either in the name of female head of the household or joint ownership.
PMAY-U was launched in 2015 to provide all-weather pucca houses with basic amenities to eligible beneficiaries of urban India. Under PMAY-U, 95.51 lakh pucca houses have already been completed and delivered to beneficiaries.
Owing to the increase in affordable housing demand, the scheme was revamped and launched as PMAY-U 2.0 in September 2024 to provide financial support to an additional one crore poor and middle-class families to construct or purchase a pucca house. Under PMAY-U and PMAY-U 2.0, the total number of houses sanctioned is 122 lakhs.
Under PMAY-U 2.0, one crore families will receive financial support of up to Rs 2.50 lakh by the Government to construct or purchase a pucca house in urban areas, the ministry said. Families from the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) or Low Income Group (LIG) as well as Middle-Income Group (MIG) segments, who do not own a pucca house anywhere in the country, are eligible for benefits under PMAY-U 2.0. The annual household income of the families applying for the scheme should be up to Rs 9 lakh.
