No other need is more primal than that for food, clothing, and shelter and yet, countless remained without a home to call their own. That is until the Indian government intervened with their ambitious housing scheme – the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana or PMAY. By subsidising home loan interest rates, this scheme aims at helping 20 million citizens purchase their first home by the year 2022. Keep reading to find out all about it.
What Is the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Eligibility Criteria?
To avail home loan subsidy under the PMAY scheme, an applicant must meet the following eligibility criteria –
- Neither the applicant nor any other member from the applicant’s family must own a house in any part of the country.
- The applicant’s household must fall into any one of the beneficiary categories as laid down under PMAY.
- The applicant’s family must not have availed government assistance via any other housing-related schemes.
If you fulfil the primary home loan eligibility criteria under PMAY, you can fill in the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana form online and submit.
The Four PM Awas Yojana Beneficiary Categories
A lot of PMAY applications are turned down because the applicant chose the wrong beneficiary category. First, it is essential to remember that the applicant’s ‘household income’ is taken into account while determining their category. As such, there are four beneficiary categories under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
- Economically Weaker Section (EWS) – Annual household income below Rs. 3 lakhs
- Lower Income Group (LIG) – Annual household income from Rs. 3 lakhs to Rs. 6 lakhs
- Middle Income Group I (MIG I) – Annual household income from Rs. 6 lakhs to Rs. 12 lakhs
- Middle Income Group II (MIG II) – Annual household income between Rs. 12 lakhs and Rs. 18 lakhs
The carpet area and the PMAY subsidy under home loan differ for each beneficiary group. The subsidy is a deduction that can be made on the payable home loan interest, expressed as a percentage. The EWS category can choose a carpet area of 30 sq.m with a subsidy of 6.5%. The LIG category gets to select homes with a maximum carpet area of 60 sq.m with a subsidy of 6.5% again. For the MIG I category, the carpet area can be up to 160 sq.m and the home loan subsidy offered is 4%. Finally, for the MIG II category, the permitted carpet area is 200 sq.m, and subsidy is provided at the rate of 3%.
Applying for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Online
Applying for PMAY is easy via PMAY online apply. Just follow these simple steps.
Step 1 – Visit the official government website – http://pmaymis.gov.in/ and log in.
Step 2 – Click on the ‘Benefits under three components’ option from the ‘Citizen Assessment’ dropbox.
Step 3 – Input your Aadhar card information and click ‘Submit.’ The system will run a validation check.
Step 4 – If the details were correct in the previous step, you should be redirected to a new page wherein you will need to enter personal information such as Name, Contact Details, Residential Address, etc.
Step 5 – After entering said details, enter the Captcha Code and click ‘Submit.’
The PMAY list of benefits is impressive. But before you apply, make sure to convince yourself of PMAY eligibility and affordability. For this, you can use useful online tools such as the PMAY subsidy calculator and the home loan EMI calculator.
