There are many words that have captured the soul of India until now: the ancient Greeks entitled it as ‘Indoi’ (people of Indus), subsequently the world started calling it ‘The Golden Sparrow’ and then gradually ‘Bharat’. Most people who have lived here would also know it as – center of expensive real estate. But with the introduction of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, a bold initiative taken by the Government of India, it is a concrete effort by them to help you get your dream home at an affordable price.

During the governments celebration of completing three years in office, one challenging opportunity remained - Housing for all by 2022. Launched in 2015, on 29th June, this massive-scale project aims to support the common man to own a home, latest by 2022. The immediate target of PMAY is to construct 1 Crore affordable homes in rural areas by the year 2018-2019.

In order to avail a house or financial reinforcements from the government, every applicant needs to meet the eligibility criteria set by the PMAY committee.

• Individuals who belong to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), people who earn an annual income of less than Rs.3 lakh.
• People that fall under the Light Income Group (LIG), who have an annual income of Rs.3 lakh- Rs.6 lakh.
• Those whose annual income is below Rs.12 lakh fall under the Medium Income Group (MIG1) category. These people can avail loans of up to Rs.9 lakh for the construction of a residence.
• Individuals earning an annual income, between Rs.12 to Rs.18 lakh will fall under the Medium Income Group (MIG2) category. These people can avail loans of up to Rs.12 lakh.
• People hailing from minority groups like SC/ST/OBC will also be considered under the PMAY scheme, but they need to provide relevant caste and income certificates.
• Women belonging to EWS/LIG categories will also be considered if they apply under the PMAY scheme.

But what is the PMAY scheme exactly?

Since the PMAY scheme is aimed towards the needy, the following features will be implemented:

• The Government of India will provide an interest subsidy of 6.5% on housing loans availed by the beneficiaries for a period of 15 years from the commencement of their loan tenure.
• During the allocation of houses under the scheme of PMAY, the preference in allocating the ground floors will be given to the senior citizens and to the differently-abled.
• All the houses built under PMAY scheme would be carried out through technology and will have eco-friendly compliance.

Therefore, the PMAY scheme will hopefully pick up the demand for affordable housing in India and reduce the realty sector’s traditional obsession with affluent homebuyers in the cities.