The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) said the Centre has approved the construction of 56,368 more houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) programme. The new project was approved at the 53rd Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee meeting held this week. These houses are proposed to be constructed under various verticals of PMAY-U Mission. Eleven states and Union Territories (UT) attended the meeting. The participating states and UTs were also directed to use the online mechanism (MIS) to implement and monitor the mission properly. The housing ministry is allotting houses in the name of women beneficiaries or joint ownership. The states and UTs have been asked to comply with the advisory issued by the ministry at every level, primarily ensuring that the woman beneficiary's name is mentioned on the nameplate of their PMAY-U house.4th Indian Cement Review Conference 202117-18 March Click for event info The PMAY-U programme launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA), in mission mode, envisions the provision of housing for all by 2022. The mission seeks to address the housing requirement of the urban poor, including slum dwellers. Currently, more than 73 lakh houses have been grounded, and nearly 43 lakh have been completed under the PMAY-U scheme. As we have reported, this budget pushed the envelope on affordable housing. The government’s flagship scheme of ‘Housing for All’ and affordable housing had received a boost in 2019 with an additional deduction of interest, amounting to Rs 1.5 lakh, for loan taken to purchase an affordable house. Now, the eligibility of this deduction has been extended by one more year, to 31 March 2022. An additional deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh shall therefore be available for loans taken up till 31 March 2022, for the purchase of an affordable house Apart from this a tax holiday for one more year, up to 31 March 2022, was also announced during the budget.Image: The Union Budget 2021-22 has spotlighted affordable housing by extending a few benefits for buyers. Also read: Centre’s final push for urban housing scheme Also read: Govt sets up fund for stalled housing projects