Government announces Rs 10,000 crore special window for completion of non-NPA housing projects

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday came back to address the media, announcing a slew of measures to nudge the slowing economy to take an upward jump.

Apart from measures to boost exports, the Finance Minister announced a Rs 10,000 crore special window to provide last-mile funding for completion of ongoing housing projects which are not NPAs or facing bankruptcy proceedings under NCLT.

The last-mile funding will be for projects that are non-NPA and non-NCLT and are net worth positive in affordable and middle income category.

The external commercial borrowing will be relaxed by the government to facilitate financing of home buyers who are eligible under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). The new measure under the ECB announced by the FM will however be in addition to the existing norms for ECB for affordable housing. The move is aimed help housing developers obtain overseas funds.

To encourage more government servants to buy new houses, the FM announced lowering of House Building Advance which will now be linked to the ten-year G-sec yield.

"Government servants contribute to a major component of demand for houses. This will encourage more government servants to buy new houses," she said.