Budget 2022: Govt allocates Rs 48k crore for universal housing, pushes for easy approvals for middle class and EWS in urban areas

The announcement comes ahead of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur where the Union government is banking on several of its flagship schemes to woo voters.

The scheme’s deadline was extended from March 2022 to December 31, 2024 earlier this year.(File)

3 min readNew DelhiFeb 2, 2022 02:35 AM IST First published on: Feb 1, 2022 at 03:20 PM IST

The government has allocated Rs 48,000 crore for its flagship ‘housing-for-all’ scheme in the Union Budget, with a focus on expediting approvals for housing constructions for the middle class and economically weaker sections in urban areas.

“In 2022-23, 80 lakh houses will be completed for the identified eligible beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana, both rural and urban; Rs 48,000 crore is allocated for this purpose,” Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman said in her budget speech on Tuesday.

The announcement comes ahead of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur where the Union government is banking on several of its flagship schemes to woo voters.

Read | Opposition slams Union Budget as ‘uninspiring’, says no relief for poor, middle-class

According to data till January 3, around 114.02 lakh houses have been sanctioned across states so far under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY-Urban). Out of these, only 53.42 lakh houses have been completed till now.

Among the poll-bound states, Goa has performed the best, constructing 98 per cent of the sanctioned houses. Uttar Pradesh has completed 9.82 lakh houses, which is 55 per cent of its sanctioned target; Uttarakhand has completed 22,523 houses (36 per cent), Punjab has completed 48,616 (43 per cent). Manipur has performed the worst, with only 10 per cent of sanctioned houses constructed.

“The Union government will work with the state governments for reduction of time required for all land and construction-related approvals, for promoting affordable housing for middle class and economically weaker sections in urban areas. We shall also work with the financial sector regulators to expand access to capital along with reduction in cost of intermediation,” Sitharaman said.

In last year’s Budget, the finance minister had announced an additional deduction of interest amount to Rs 1.5 lakh for all loans taken up till March 31, 2022 for purchasing affordable houses.

Sitharaman has also proposed that affordable housing projects could avail a tax holiday for one more year till March 31, 2022 in a bid to keep up the supply of affordable houses.

Explained

Push ahead of polls

The Union government’s flagship housing scheme is among its most popular programmes in both rural and urban areas. It assumes even more significance ahead of the forthcoming Assembly elections in five states. With the model code of conduct in place across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, the Government will aim to utilise the budgetary announcements of its popular schemes.

Box:

Why so: The Union government’s flagship housing scheme is among its most popular programmes in both rural and urban areas. It assumes even more significance ahead of the forthcoming Assembly elections in five states.

So what: With the model code of conduct in place across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, the Government will aim to utilise the budgetary announcements of its popular schemes.