The recent decision by the Indian government to launch the program "Housing for All by 2022" has been praised as a milestone by the real estate industry. The program, according to a report on dnaindia.com, is intended to provide affordable homes for the urban poor with low interest rates.
This was the sentiment echoed by CREDAI NCR President Manoj Gaur, who said, "This is a welcome step taken by the Union government. This decision will work as a milestone in Indian housing sector. Every stakeholder of the industry would get benefited by this step."
The subsidies for the beneficiary recipients housing projects, together with the promotion of affordable housing for the less fortunate through credit linked subsidy, would reportedly provide the most benefit for the lower level sectors of society.
The specifics of the program have been reported on indianexpress.com. These include an income cap of up to Rs 6 lakh. The coverage of the program would be identified as the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category, which are households earning an annual income of Rs 3 lakh with the Low Income Group set for a bracket between Rs 3 to 6 lakh annually. The minimum housing size for EWS homes would be at 30 square meters, up from the previous 25 to 27 sqm set in another program.
The goal would be to properly provide housing for everyone meeting the criteria for the program. The redefinition expands the coverage of beneficiaries for the central grants available in the project.
According to a report from thehindu.com, the total projected housing units to be built under the Housing for All program would be at 20 million. In a formal statement, the Union government said, "Under the credit-linked interest subsidy component, an interest subsidy of 6.5 percent on housing loans availed up to a tenure of 15 years will be provided to economically weaker sections/lower income group (EWS/LIG) categories, wherein the subsidy pay-out on a net present value basis would be about Rs 2.3 lakh per house for both categories."