Home loan interest subsidy scheme for urban areas in final stages: Puri
The new home loan interest subsidy scheme will replace the discontinued Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), a sub-scheme of PMAY(U)
NEW DELHI: A new home loan int`erest subsidy scheme for low and middle-income groups announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech last year is in the final stages of preparation, union minister of housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday.
“A lot of work has gone into the formulation of the scheme. There has been deliberation on the nuances. It is in the final stages. We should be going to the cabinet (for this) soon,” Puri told a news conference.
The home loan interest subsidy scheme will replace the discontinued Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), a sub-scheme of PMAY(U).
The CLSS sub-scheme was discontinued in March 2021 for the middle-income group after it was rolled out in June 2015. A total of 23.97 lakh houses across states were sanctioned under this sub-scheme. The sub-scheme incidentally has the highest contribution (as much as ₹2.67 lakh) of the union government under the PMAY(U) scheme compared to the other three sub-schemes
Puri, who described 2023 as a standout year for urban governance in India, said Rs. 18.07 lakh crores have been invested in urban development since 2014. Praising the flagship Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) or PMAY(U) scheme, Puri said 1.18 crore houses have been approved under the scheme, around nine times the 13.46 lakh houses approved under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and Rajiv Awas Yojna.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi first announced the government’s plan to come up with an urban housing credit scheme for low-income citizens in his Independence Day address last year.
“We are coming up with a new scheme in the coming years that will benefit those families that live in cities but live in rented houses, or slums, or chawls and unauthorised colonies. If they want to build their own houses, we will assist them with relief in interest rates and loans from banks that will help them save lakhs of rupees.”
“If the income tax bracket for my middle-class families is raised from ₹2 lakh to ₹7 lakh, it benefits the salaried class, the middle class the most,” PM Modi added.