The Modi Government on Thursday announced the extension of the deadline for the affordable housing Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) till March 2021. The deadline for CLSS had expired on March 31, 2020. The move is expected to bring investments to the tune of Rs 70,000 crore in the housing sector.
According to the Government, this move will benefit 2.5 lakh middle income families during 2020-21. With the help of the CLSS, the Government aims at increasing the credit flow in institutions to meet the housing needs of the urban poor population in our country.
Announcing the second tranche of measures under the Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package on Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the move will benefit the lowest strata of the middle income group with Rs 6-18 lakh annual income.
“For them there is a Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme, which was introduced by Government of India in May 2017... it was extended up to March 31, 2020. This scheme benefits a lot of people who want to have simple affordable houses. This link is being extended up to March 2021,” Sitharaman said.
The CLSS to the middle income group with Rs 6 lakh to Rs 18 lakh per annum was opeationalised from May 2017. This scheme till date has benefited around 3.3 lakh families. Under the scheme, the government offers interest subsidy to eligible beneficiaries. The scheme covers two middle-income segments — MIG-I, with annual income between Rs 6-12 lakh, and MIG-II, for families earning between Rs 12-18 lakh per annum.
The Finance Minister also announced plans to launch affordable rental housing complexes (ARHCs). This move will help migrant workers and urban poor to live in cities by paying reasonable rents at these government complexes. The initiative will be rolled out under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) by converting government funded housing in the cities into ARHCs under public-private partnership through concessionaire.
Sitharaman added it will help the subsidiary industries of real estate like cement, steel, etc as affordable housing will boost the real esatte industry.