NEW DELHI, Aug 31: A scheme to provide relief in interest on bank loans for those dreaming of owning a house in cities will be launched in September, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said here today.
Addressing a press conference, Puri said the scheme is in an advanced stage of its modalities being worked out.
During his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the scheme for middle-class families who live in cities but do not own a house.
The Prime Minister said that the Government has decided to give relief in bank loan interest by providing a help of lakhs of rupees to the families living in rented houses, unauthorised colonies and shanties in cities, to build their own house.
“The scheme will be announced in full details in September. It will be supplementing what we already have (similar schemes). We are working out modalities of the scheme. It is in an advanced stage,” Puri told reporters.
The HUA ministry is mandated to implement the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) under which 1.19 crore houses have been sanctioned out of which 76.34 lakh have already been handed over to beneficiaries so far.
Talking about the recommendations of the Amitabh Kant committee on stalled real estate projects, the Minister said he has written to Chief Ministers requesting to implement them.
Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Manoj Joshi said the 14-member panel has also recommended that home buyers whose flat is nearly complete but it has not been handed over due to pending permissions from authorities concerned, can be allowed to take possession.
Last week, former NITI Aayog Chief Amitabh Kant presented the committee’s report to Puri.
Changes in the insolvency law and formulating a scheme offering subsidised interest rates are among the measures suggested by the committee.
The Report of the Committee to examine the issues related to Legacy Stalled Real Estate Projects recommended to encourage financial institutions to fund stalled projects, a scheme offering subsidised interest rates, similar to MSME.
“Such a scheme would reduce perceived risk, stimulate financial support and lead projects to completion.
“Additionally, the Central Government may consider a guarantee fund similar to MSME for such finances. The MoHUA (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs) will prepare a detailed scheme and send it to the Ministry of Finance, in this regard,” the report stated.
The committee observed that the steps to improve the Internal Rate of Return of these projects would attract more funding and judicial interventions such as Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code should be used only as a last resort.
Project resolution should be a win-win situation for all stakeholders, it said. (PTI)
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