Centre may tweak criteria for middle-income groups for urban housing scheme

livemint.com:

₹6-18 lakh come under the ambit of middle-income group, while those in the ₹6-12 lakh income slab are under the middle-income group-I (MIG-I) and those with income in the range of ₹12-18 lakh fall under MIG-II. Households with an annual income of ₹6-12 lakh per year can currently buy or build a property with a carpet area of up to 90 sq. m under the scheme, while households with an annual income of ₹12-18 lakh per year can build or buy a property with a carpet area of up to 110 sq.

m. The maximum loan amount and maximum interest subsidy amount for the first category currently stand at ₹9 lakh and ₹2.35 lakh, respectively, while it is ₹12 lakh and ₹2.30 lakh, respectively for the second category. "The government is looking at changes in the middle-income group criteria for the urban housing scheme.

The new incentives for the middle class and urban poor, in the form of interest subvention announced in the interim budget, would largely be worked upon under the ongoing scheme," said the second person mentioned above, requesting anonymity. "The tweaking is likely to improve the efficiencies of the scheme by better targeting the beneficiaries," the person added. In the interim budget in February, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the Centre's plans to help deserving sections of the middle class living in rented houses, slums, chawls and unauthorized colonies to buy or build their own houses.