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It may plan a significant hike in budgetary support aimed at completing the balance 8.4 million dwellings by March 2024.
With the forthcoming Budget being the last full Budget ahead of the 2024 general elections, the Narendra Modi government is expected to continue with its big thrust on the rural housing scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Grameen (PMAY-G).
It may plan a significant hike in budgetary support aimed at completing the balance 8.4 million dwellings by March 2024.
PMAY-G is one of the flagship schemes of the Modi government.
Under this, it aims to build 29.5 million pucca houses in rural areas with basic amenities such as a functional toilet and single-point electricity connection by March 2024, through convergence with other schemes.
Of the target, up to December 15, 2022, 25 million houses have been sanctioned and 21.1 million have been already constructed.
In FY23, the Centre first allocated Rs 20,000 crore for the programme and then topped it up with another Rs 28,000 crore.
It was through supplementary demand for grants, thereby taking the scheme's total allocation to almost Rs 48,000 crore.
In the Budget, which will be tabled in Parliament in February, a similar thrust is expected to be placed on PMAY-G with a significant rise in allocation, sources said.
"We have been assured that whatever funds are required for timely completion of the remaining 8.4 million houses under PMAY-G will be provided," a senior official said.
He added that there won't be funds crunch as far as the flagship scheme is concerned.
The focus on rural housing would also serve as an advantage for the forthcoming state elections and the 2024 general elections.
This is because it has a huge cascading impact on the rural population.
Delivery of millions of rural houses along with quick completion of rural roads and sanitation projects has been one of the main focus areas of the central government.
In FY23, the government has targeted to complete around 5.3 million rural houses.
In FY22, official data shows that the Centre targeted to build around 6.1 million rural homes.
Of this, over 4.3 million units were completed during the financial year.
Under the rural housing programme, a financial assistance of Rs 1.2 lakh is provided to each beneficiary in the plains.
A sum of Rs 1.3 lakh is provided to beneficiaries in hilly states.
According to the scheme's guidelines, the financial burden of implementation is shared by the Centre and states in the ratio of 60:40 for the plains.
The figure is 90:10 for hilly regions and special category states.
