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Budget: FM announces 10 lakh crore for urban housing scheme

Jul 23, 2024 03:21 PM IST

In all, the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) has got an outlay of Rs.82,576.57 crore for 2024-25 compared to Rs.69,270.72 crore of revised estimate for 2023-24, marking an increase of 19.2%

New Delhi: A transit-oriented development (TOD) framework for 14 large Indian cities, dormitory-type rental housing for industrial workers, and 10 million new houses for the urban poor were announced by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech on Tuesday.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024 on Tuesday (File Photo)
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024 on Tuesday (File Photo)

In her record seventh budget presentation and the first in the Modi 3.0 government, Sitharaman said that urban development is one of the nine priorities through which the government will facilitate the development of cities as growth hubs.

The FM announced an investment of Rs.10 lakh crore in a to push affordable urban housing for 10 million new urban housing units under the PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) 2.0, including Rs.2.2 lakh crore central funding in the next five years.

In all, the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) has got an outlay of Rs.82,576.57 crore for 2024-25 compared to Rs.69,270.72 crore of revised estimate for 2023-24, marking an increase of 19.2%. Earlier in February in the interim budget, an allocation of 77,523.58 crore for 2024-25 was made which was nearly 12% more than the RE of the 2023-24.

To ease the housing market, Sitharaman said that the Centre would urge states to moderate stamp duties, especially in cities where stamp duties are currently steep. Further reductions in duties for properties purchased by women will be pushed.

She said the government will also push for a transparent rental housing market and set up such units under a PPP model. She also announced that the Centre, in collaboration with the industries, will build affordable working women hostels and creches in industrial parks to promote women’s participation in the workforce.

In a related announcement, the FM said land records in urban areas will be digitised with GIS (geographic information system) mapping. An IT-based property record administration, updating, and tax administration system will be established. She said these will also facilitate improving the financial position of urban local bodies. The budget has allocated Rs.1150.02 crore for the national urban digital mission. 

The allocation to central government schemes, including the flagship schemes such as PMAY(U) and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), has been increased to Rs.29,961.30 crore from Rs.27,074 crore from the RE (revised estimates) of 2023-24. PMAY(U) alone saw an increase of 36% from Rs.22,103.03 crore in the RE 2023-24 to 30,170.61 crore for 2024-25. 

The TOD development plans – an integration of land-use plans with transportation planning to reduce commutes by building mixed-use neighbourhoods near the transit hubs – will be prepared for 14 of the largest cities with a population of over three million. This policy is likely because Indian cities already have 905 km of the Metro network and construction of another 900 km is underway. 

While there was no mention of buses or metro in the budget speech, Rs.1,300 crore has been allotted for the PM e-bus sewa scheme and Rs.24,931.98 crore for metro rail projects across the country, which are already underway. The allocation for metro projects did not see any significant improvement. 

There will be a new framework for “creative” brownfield development of 100 large cities.

Further, the budget mentioned that fiscal support will be provided for implementing reforms in urban planning and building by-laws for the next three years to states. She added that peri-urban areas will be developed by ensuring effective town planning schemes. Further, the budget speech mentioned that funds will be provided for water and sanitation infrastructure from multilateral institutions for 100 cities. These projects will also envisage using treated water for irrigation and filling up tanks in nearby areas. 

However, in this budget too, while the speech mentioned the much-anticipated interest subvention scheme for urban housing for middle and low-income groups, the specifics were not revealed. 

In her Budget speech, Sitharaman also mentioned that funding for schemes such as PMSvanidhi, and DAY-NULM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission ) will be enhanced.

In addition, for the benefit of street vendors, the finance minister said that the Union government will ensure the development of 100 weekly haats in some cities for the next five years as an extension of the PM Svanidhi scheme.

However, the expenditure budget showed that the funding for the Svanidhi scheme has been reduced to Rs.326.32 crore from Rs.468 crore in the RE of 2023-24. Similarly, for DAY-NULM too the allocation has been reduced to Rs.300 crore from Rs.523 crore in RE of 2023-24. 

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