The Central government has given a significant boost to its housing initiatives by approving the construction of an additional 141,000 homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) 2.0 across 14 states. This landmark achievement brings the total number of house sanctions under the refreshed housing mission to over one million units, as announced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on Thursday.
These crucial approvals were granted during the fifth meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC), held in Delhi on October 15. The meeting was presided over by MoHUA secretary Srinivas Katikithala.
A closer look at the newly approved 140,942 houses reveals a strong focus on inclusivity: 76,976 homes are designated for women, including single, widowed, and separated beneficiaries. Furthermore, 13,509 houses have been allocated for senior citizens, and seven for transgender individuals. In terms of social categories, 29,131 houses are for Scheduled Castes (SC), 6,561 for Scheduled Tribes (ST), and 74,291 for Other Backward Classes (OBC). These new sanctions further bolster PMAY-U 2.0’s commitment, having already allocated 631,000 houses for women, over 70,000 for single or widowed women, 104,000 for senior citizens, and 163 for transgender beneficiaries.
In total, approximately 220,000 homes have been sanctioned for SC households, 51,181 for ST households, and 535,000 for OBC households.
The latest phase of approvals spans projects in 14 states and Union territories, including Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Secretary Srinivas Katikithala encouraged the states to prioritize project locations with robust infrastructure, accessible public transport, and good connectivity. He also stressed the importance of accelerating construction and ensuring the timely occupancy of completed homes. States have been further advised to organize loan fairs to assist beneficiaries in completing their housing projects and to enhance the efficiency of geo-tagging and monitoring through digital platforms.
Launched in 2015, PMAY-U’s core objective is to provide durable, all-weather pucca houses with essential amenities to eligible urban poor. The scheme’s initial phase saw the completion and delivery of over 9,550,000 houses. With its revamp in September 2024, PMAY-U 2.0 aims to support an additional 10,000,000 urban poor and middle-class families, offering financial aid of up to ₹2,50,000 per beneficiary. Cumulatively, PMAY-U and PMAY-U 2.0 have facilitated the sanctioning of over 12,200,000 houses to date.