The Indian government on Thursday announced its plans to launch a scheme to help sections of the middle class buy or build houses.
In her speech for the interim budget 2024-25, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the scheme will be launched for those sections of the middle class living in rented houses, slums, chawls or unauthorized colonies.
“Our Government will launch a scheme to help deserving sections of the middle class “living in rented houses, or slums, or chawls and unauthorized colonies” to buy or build their own houses,” Sitharaman said.
This is among other broader housing schemes launched by the government, including the ‘Housing for All’ mission, which comprises the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).
According to Anuj Puri, chairman of property consultancy Anarock Group, this announcement will likely help make it easier to redevelop slums, thus giving a push to the real estate industry.
Separately, as part of the PMAY (Rural), the minister announced the government’s plans to build an additional two crore housing units in the next five years. She said that the government is about to achieve its earlier target of constructing about three crore housing units as part of the scheme.
“The indication that the Union Government is looking to focus on housing for all and affordable housing is a welcome step in that direction,” said Pavitra Shankar, managing director at Bengaluru-based developer Brigade Group.
However, the interim budget did not offer any measures to meet key industry demands proposed by stakeholders included tax sops for homebuyers, the grant of industry status, and an increase in allocations for schemes like PMAY (Urban).
