The finance minister of the Union announced on Tuesday a huge allocation of Rs 2.2 lakh crore for urban housing under the flagship Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, complemented by a Rs 10 lakh crore interest subsidy initiative.
It aims at giving a further boost to the government's efforts towards affordable housing.
Sitharaman, stating the facts in her Budget Speech in Parliament, further mentioned, "Housing needs of one crore urban poor and middle-class families shall be looked into, with investment in about 10 lakh crores of rupees, including 2.2 lakh crores of rupees during the next five years as central assistance."
She said, "The first decision of the Cabinet meeting under Narendra Modi 3.0 includes building three crore additional houses under the PMAY scheme, two crore of which will be built in rural areas under PMAY (Grameen)."
However, it is one of the most ambitious programs of the Modi government.
The current announcement in the budget significantly amends the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban.
The Finance Minister hinted that two crore more houses would be built in the next five years under this scheme in Interim Budget 2024. The government claims it was left with just a few thousands to reach their benchmark of three crore houses under this scheme.
The Budget for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana spiraled to rise by 66 per cent last year to over Rs 79,000 crore.
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