The Centre government has approved more than 29,000 additional houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0 (PMAY-U 2.0), taking the total number of sanctioned homes under the urban housing scheme to 18.77 lakh. The latest approvals come as the government steps up efforts to expand affordable housing supply and accelerate project implementation across urban areas.The approvals were cleared at the ninth meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC), held on September 10, and cover Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Telangana, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. The newly approved houses fall under the Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC) and Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) verticals.Affordable housing pipeline gets another pushThe latest sanctions take PMAY-U 2.0 closer to the 20-lakh-home milestone, reflecting the growing scale of the government’s urban affordable housing programme.The scheme is targeted at economically weaker sections (EWS), low-income groups (LIG) and middle-income groups (MIG) with annual household income of up to Rs 9 lakh. Rather than following a single housing model, PMAY-U 2.0 provides assistance through beneficiary-led construction, affordable housing projects, rental housing and interest subsidy on eligible home loans.This allows households with different income levels and housing requirements to access support for construction, purchase or rental accommodation.Centre plans faster approvals for housing projectsThe government is also seeking to speed up the flow of projects from approval to sanction. Urban Development Secretary Satendra Singh said CSMC meetings will now be convened every second week of the month to ensure regular monitoring and accelerate implementation of PMAY-U 2.0.States and Union territories have been asked to submit duly approved projects by the end of each month so that they can be considered at the subsequent CSMC meeting.The move is aimed at creating a more regular project-sanctioning cycle and addressing bottlenecks that could delay the rollout of affordable housing projects.Women dominate PMAY-U 2.0 home ownershipWomen’s ownership remains one of the strongest features of the programme. Of the 18.77 lakh houses sanctioned under PMAY-U 2.0, 17.19 lakh, or 92 percent, have been allotted to women.The houses are either in the name of the woman of the household or held jointly, giving women a direct stake in residential property ownership.The scheme has also targeted vulnerable sections, with 1.80 lakh houses allotted to senior citizens, while 3.25 lakh houses have been sanctioned for SC beneficiaries, 1.02 lakh for ST beneficiaries and 8.22 lakh for OBC beneficiaries.PMAY housing footprint crosses 1.25 crorePMAY-U 2.0 builds on the earlier PMAY-Urban programme. Together, the two schemes have resulted in more than 1.25 crore houses being sanctioned, with over 1 crore houses completed and delivered to beneficiaries.The latest approvals therefore represent not just an expansion of the affordable housing pipeline but another step towards increasing formal home ownership among lower- and middle-income urban households.
