Housing finance companies that cater to lower and mid-income goup home buyers are lobbying with the government to extend the subsidy provided to economically weaker sections (EWS) and low-income group (LIG) home buyers under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), which is set to end in March 2022.

Worth mentioning here is that due to increased burden on the exchequer, the government has already stopped subsidies under PMAY on MIG homes and in March 2022, subsidies available on EWS and LIG category homes are also set to end. The Economic Times citing estimates mentioned in a report that the government has so far doled out subsidies of more than Rs 1.13 lakh crore under this scheme.

The subsidies ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh were granted by the government under its goal of ‘Housing for All’ by 2022.

“The subsidies granted to middleincome group segments have already expired while the other two crucial categories of LIG & EWS are nearing completion. These subsidies are very crucial for the poor to afford homes,” the business daily quoted CEO of a midsized housing finance company as saying. “Hence, we have been making representations to the government to extend the scheme beyond the March 2022 deadline and restore subsidy for MIG category loans.”

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, which was launched in June 2015, aims at providing affordable housing to the urban poor by 2022.

The scheme covers the maximum loan amounts ranging from Rs 6 lakh in the EWS category to Rs 12 lakh in the MIG category. Families earning annual income ranging from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 18 lakh are eligible to claim subsidies under the scheme. The maximum eligible subsidy under the scheme ranges from Rs 2.30 lakh to Rs 2.70 lakh. These projects have been built with a total investment outlay of Rs 7.52 lakh crore, according to data available on the PMAY portal.

According to the PMAY portal, a total of 5.2 million homes have been completed under the scheme with the Centre releasing assistance of nearly Rs 1.13 lakh crore. A total of 11.4 million homes have been sanctioned under this scheme for which the government has committed a total of Rs 1.85 lakh crore.

“The government needs to channelise more resources towards granting of existing subsidies as the sanctions have been delayed by several months,” said another senior official with a housing finance company. “The government also needs to extend the scheme as its ‘Housing for All’ goal is yet to be fulfilled.”