Cabinet approves creation of Rs60,000-cr National Urban Housing Fund

The union cabinet today granted approval for creation of a Rs60,000-crore National Urban Housing Fund (NUHF) for the promotion of various housing schemes of the central government.

This fund, to be set up as an autonomous body registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, under the ministry of housing and urban affairs, will be located the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) complex, in New Delhi.

The ministry has so far sanctioned 3.94 million houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), the ministry stated, adding that the response from the states / union territories have also been very good with nearly 2-3 lakh houses being sanctioned every month.

Construction of more than 1.7 million houses have started and about 5 lakh houses have been completed. Under Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), wherein housing for EWS / LIG / MIG beneficiaries is being sanctioned by the banks / HFCs to the eligible beneficiaries under the PMAY (Urban), th4e ministry stated that the responses have grown significantly.

Nearly 87,000 housing loans have been sanctioned in last 8 months under the scheme and over 40,000 applications are under consideration for approval. The target is to cater to the demand of housing shortage of nearly 12 million and make available housing to all by 2022, when the country celebrates its 75th Anniversary of Independence.

NUHF will facilitate raising requisite funds in next four years so that flow of central assistance under different verticals, ie, Beneficiary Linked Construction (BLC), Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP), In-Situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR) and Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) is sustained and construction of houses to address the gap in urban sector progresses smoothly.