The Centre has approved more than 29,000 additional houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0, taking the total number of sanctioned homes under the scheme to 18.77 lakh as the government pushes to expand affordable housing across urban India.
The latest approvals were cleared at the ninth meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC), held in New Delhi on September 10. The newly sanctioned houses cover Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Telangana, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh and fall under the Beneficiary-Led Construction (BLC) and Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) verticals.
The latest round takes the scheme closer to the 20-lakh-home mark, while putting greater emphasis on moving approved housing projects towards implementation.
Government pushes for faster project execution
The housing approvals come with a renewed focus on monitoring and delivery. Satendra Singh, Secretary of the Department of Urban Development in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, called on states to ensure timely and effective implementation of PMAY-U 2.0.
The Centre is also seeking to make the approval process more regular. CSMC meetings will now be convened every second week of the month, with states and Union territories expected to submit duly approved projects by the end of each month for consideration at the subsequent meeting.
The move is aimed at reducing delays between project preparation and sanction while creating a more predictable pipeline for affordable housing approvals.
For states, the focus is now shifting from securing sanctions to ensuring that projects translate into completed homes and reach eligible beneficiaries without prolonged delays.
Scheme targets wider range of urban households
PMAY-U 2.0 is designed to support economically weaker sections, low-income groups and middle-income groups with annual household incomes of up to Rs 9 lakh.
Unlike a single-track housing programme, the scheme operates through multiple verticals covering beneficiary-led construction, affordable housing projects, rental housing and interest subsidy on eligible home loans. This gives households different routes to secure housing support depending on their financial position and requirements.
The latest approvals under BLC and AHP therefore add capacity to two distinct parts of the programme. BLC supports eligible beneficiaries in constructing homes, while AHP focuses on housing delivered through partnerships.
Women account for overwhelming share of allotments
Women’s participation remains a prominent feature of the scheme. Of the 18.77 lakh houses sanctioned under PMAY-U 2.0, 17.19 lakh, or about 92%, have been allotted to women.
The houses are either registered 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 recorded substantial allocations for vulnerable sections. Senior citizens account for 1.80 lakh sanctioned houses, while 3.25 lakh houses have been sanctioned for Scheduled Caste beneficiaries. Another 1.02 lakh have been sanctioned for Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries and 8.22 lakh for Other Backward Class beneficiaries.
The figures underline the scheme’s role not only as an affordable housing programme but also as a mechanism for widening formal ownership among sections that have historically faced greater barriers to home ownership.
PMAY housing footprint crosses 1.25 crore
PMAY-U 2.0 builds on the government’s earlier PMAY-Urban programme. Together, the two schemes have resulted in more than 1.25 crore houses being sanctioned, with more than 1 crore houses completed and delivered to beneficiaries.
Against that broader backdrop, the latest 18.77 lakh sanctions represent another sizeable addition to the urban housing pipeline.
The next phase, however, will be measured less by the number of approvals and more by execution. With the Centre tightening the frequency of project reviews and asking states to maintain a regular flow of approved projects, implementation is emerging as the critical link between sanctions and actual housing delivery.
As PMAY-U 2.0 moves towards the 20-lakh-home milestone, the government's challenge will be to maintain the pace of approvals while ensuring that sanctioned homes move efficiently from paper to construction and, ultimately, into the hands of eligible urban households.
