Jammu & Kashmir government approves Rs. 2 lakh interest-free loan for PMAY-U beneficiaries

The Jammu & Kashmir Administrative Council under the leadership of Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha has given approval to the proposal of the Housing and Urban Development Department.

The proposal called for providing interest-free loans up to Rs. 2 lakh to the urban houseless economically weaker section beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban’s Beneficiary Led Construction- BLC component.

The time period of the interest-free loan has been fixed at 10 years. It includes a moratorium of six months and is repayable through a monthly installment of Rs. 2,500.

Housing & Urban Development Department to provide interest-free loan up to Rs. 2 lakhs to the #urban houseless economically weaker section beneficiaries under #Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC) component of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna-Urban (PMAY-U).@MoHUA_India

— DIPR-J&K (@diprjk) March 14, 2021

Key Highlights:

• The interest-free loan by the government will be an additional benefit which will be over and above the financial assistance of Rs. 1.66 lakh which has already been provided to the beneficiaries under the PMAY-U.

• With this step, the beneficiaries of the scheme will now be able to avail of Rs. 3.66 lakh for the construction of their dwelling units.

• At present, the government scheme will be benefitting 41,992 beneficiaries under the BLC component.

• The decision is part of the central government’s aim of providing affordable housing to the economically weaker section of the society.

Why an interest-free loan is required?

The beneficiaries under the BLC component of the Yojana have been experiencing difficulty in mobilizing their contribution as they come from the economically weaker sections and also have to contribute higher shares as compared to other states and UTs.

Because of this, the construction of the dwelling units of this component of PMAY-U is not able to achieve the desired target.

The beneficiaries of the BLC component demanded the enhancement of assistance in their favor so that they are able to complete their houses within the targeted date of the mission. Because of the difficulties faced by the beneficiaries in arranging the financial resources, the state government agreed to provide interest subsidies to all the eligible beneficiaries.