Almost 1 cr city-dwellers in India have been sanctioned around Rs 1.5 lakh each under the flagship PM Housing Scheme or PMAY for urban dwellers, with Andhra Pradesh emerging the clear winner in the implementation of the scheme.
On average, the single beneficiary was allocated Rs 1.57 lakh.
PMAY or PM Awaz Yojana (Housing Scheme) was announced by the Narendra Modi government four years ago to incentivize citizens to buy new homes and help rescue failing real estate developers.
The scheme is broadly divided into the rural and urban classifications.
Under the urban classification, anyone who buys a house after taking a home loan will get a subsidy of up to Rs 2.67 lakh to help pay the interest on the loan.
Those who do not have household income of more than Rs 6 lakh (Rs 50,000 per month) can get a subsidy of up to Rs 2.67 lakh, while those with annual household income less than Rs 18 lakh (1.5 lakh per month) can get a subsidy of up to Rs 2.3 lakh.
GUJARAT, ANDHRA, MP LEADS
By far the biggest beneficiary of the scheme meant for urban areas has been Andhra Pradesh.
Despite having a population of only around 5 cr, the state has been allocated Rs 20,756 cr, or an average of Rs 4,150 for each person in the state. A total of 13.75 lakh houses have been approved under PMAY-Urban in Andhra Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh, which has a population of around 7.35 cr, has been allocated Rs 11,682 cr under PMAY-Urban, which works out to about Rs 1,589 per head. Adjusted for population, MP’s allocation is just around one third that of Andhra Pradesh.
Another good performer on this front is Gujarat, which has been allocated Rs 10,373 cr, or around Rs 1,645 per capita.
Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, has so far got Rs 22,271 cr, while Bihar has got just Rs 4,705 cr (see chart).
On an all India basis, over 93 lakh beneficiaries have been approved under the scheme in the last four years, out of which 28 lakh have already completed their construction or purchase of the house.
55.4 lakh houses eligible for subsidy via the plan are under construction.
The total demand put forward by various states is for 1.12 cr houses, out of which 93 lakh have so far been approved, the central ministry of housing and urban affairs said.
The total funds approved under the scheme is Rs 1.46 lakh cr, out of which about 38% has already been released by the central government to various states.
The number of houses completed or purchased under the scheme has been increasing exponentially.
While only 1.29 lakh houses were delivered or purchased under the scheme in FY-2107, 3.28 lakh houses were delivered in FY-2018 and a whopping 18.18 lakh house were delivered under PMAY-U in FY-2019.