Know Everything About PMAY in Brief

India being a welfare state, its Government launches various schemes for the benefit of the masses from time to time. The PMAY or Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) is one such scheme, in existence since June 2015, to make available a pucca house for every Indian household. This is in conjunction with making clean drinking water, sanitation facilities, LPG, and electricity also available. The scheme aims to address the challenges of the Middle-Income Groups or MIGs and Lower Income Groups or LIGs who are also referred to as Economically Weaker Sections or EWS in owning a pucca house. 

The PMAY scheme has urban and rural variants called PMAY-U and PMAY-G, respectively. The target segments mainly are the urban poor and/or migrant labour, workers in industries, SCs, STs, OBCs, women, widows of paramilitary and ex-military personnel, transgenders, and senior citizens (not above 70 years of age).

The PMAY-U scheme can be availed of by any of the four routes mentioned below:

1. Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS)—in this, the interest subsidy is approved for pre-specified square footage on a pre-limited loan sum, for the eligible groups. The subsidy benefits for the MIG groups had to have been availed of before the start of the fiscal year 2021-22. The subsidy applications for the LIG segments continue to be live till the end of the fiscal year 2021-22. Every individual earning adult or a family (with an individual earning member) can apply for this scheme provided they don’t already own a pucca bouse. 

The scheme can be availed of by either a husband, or his wife, or an unmarried son, or an unmarried daughter. 

1. The In-Situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR) is in place to help redevelop urban slums into residential complexes with better infrastructure facilities.
2. The Affordable Housing Partnerships (AHP) is in place to enable a public-private partnership in housing projects under this scheme.  
3. In case someone eligible is unable to apply to this scheme using any of the earlier three routes, they may attempt the enhancement option for an upgrade to their existing house or in the construction of an individual house, up to Rs.1.5 lakh loan amount from the Centre. 

Each earning adult has been permitted to avail of the subsidy benefits only once using any of the four routes. Moreover, they are barred from availing any benefits under the scheme if they have already made use of any other housing scheme of the Government. 

The Rural scheme is a shared responsibility between the governments at the Centre and the States structured similarly with a similar purpose. 

The following steps can help you apply for the PMAY scheme:

1. Check your PMAY eligibility/name on the declared PMAY list on the government’s website by searching for your name using your Aadhar number on the ‘Search Beneficiary’ tab.
2. Apply for the PMAY scheme on the same portal www.pmaymis.gov.in by downloading the relevant form from the Citizen Assessment tab and filling in with the requisite details and attaching document proofs. There is also a provision to apply offline at the Common Service Centres (CSC). In case you are an existing home loan borrower and are PMAY eligible, you are also permitted to apply to this scheme. 
3. Apply for a home loan with a bank or a lender. Submit your PMAY application along with it to let your lender be aware that you are seeking the benefits of the scheme. There is no upper limit mentioned for applying for a loan (yet the interest subsidy is approved only on the predefined criteria and loan sum). The total loan eligibility will be validated by the lender in concern by their regular due diligence process followed for a home loan application. This also ascertains the interest rate on the non-subsidised part of the loan basis the CIBIL score, age, investments, income profile, the market value of the house, and so on. 

Once the documents are reviewed and verified, along with your PMAY status, the loan amount is sanctioned to your bank account within a quarter.  

Some important things to note about the PMAY scheme:

The Interest Subsidy allocated by the various income groups and loan sum is as follows:

• 6.5% for EWS (up to a loan amount of Rs.6 lakh)
• 6.5% for LIG (up to a loan amount of Rs.6 lakh)
• 4% for MIG I (up to a loan amount of Rs.9 lakh)
• 3% for MIG II (up to a loan amount of Rs.12 lakh

Finally, who are the MIGs and LIGs as defined under the scheme? The beneficiary segments of MIG and LIG have been characterised basis the annual income brackets in which households fall. These are specified as under:

1. EWS: Up to Rs.3 lakh
2. LIG: Between Rs.3 lakh and 6 lakh
3. MIG I: From Rs.6 lakh to 12 lakh
4. MIG II: From Rs.12 lakh to 18 lakh

In case you are still thinking about applying for the scheme, do so now before the date of the application expires within this fiscal year! 

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