Housing finance major HDFC Ltd on Sunday said it has approved home loans of over Rs 47,000 crore to more than 2 lakh first-time homebuyers under the government's Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS).
HDFC said it has passed on interest subsidy of more than Rs 4,700 crore to these beneficiaries.
In a statement, HDFC said it has approved over Rs 47,000 crore of home loans under CLSS to more than 2 lakh homebuyers belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Low Income Group (LIG) and Middle Income Groups (MIG).
"Subsidy under PMAY amounting to over Rs 4,700 crore has been passed on to these 2,00,000 homebuyers, becoming the only financial institution in the country to achieve this feat," HDFC said.
The company said it has been partnering and supporting the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the National Housing Bank (NHB) to work towards the government's goal of 'Affordable Housing for All'.
"The government's PMAY scheme has been successfully assisting homebuyers belonging to different income groups since 2015. The scheme is in line with our overall philosophy that every Indian must have a home of their own," HDFC Ltd Managing Director Renu Sud Karnad said.
Complementing the housing ministry and the NHB for being receptive to suggestions from various stakeholders, she said this proactive approach has enabled effective and seamless implementation of the scheme.
"Due to the COVID-19 crisis, a number of sectors including the real estate sector have been affected. Having said that we feel that the demand for housing will pick up gradually as the economy emerges out of the lockdown and confidence in the economy is restored," Karnad said.
She noted that structural demand for housing for India would always remain strong.
"The huge concessions under PMAY, tax benefits on home loans, lowest ever interest rates and property prices having seen both price and time correction, affordability was never better.
"Also with the increase in the trend for working from home, the demand for homes will only rise going forward," she said.
HDFC said it has been making efforts to educate customers on the benefits of CLSS by conducting seminars, presentations and counselling sessions.
It has also engaged extensively with developers and channel partners so as to reach out to more eligible beneficiaries.
The Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) was introduced in June 2015 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) for home loans to customers from the EWS and LIG sections. It was extended to MIG from January 2017.
As per the scheme, borrowers are eligible for interest subsidy of 6.5 per cent per annum for loans up to Rs 6 lakh for EWS and LIG category (annual household income up to Rs 6 lakh).
The scheme provides for interest subsidy of 4 per cent for loan up to Rs 9 lakh for MIG 1 category (annual household income between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 12 lakh) and interest subsidy of 3 per cent for loans up to Rs 12 lakh for MIG 2 category (annual household income between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 18 lakh) for a maximum tenure of 20 years.
The effective subsidy to customer is in the range of Rs 2.30-2.67 lakhs on a 20 year term, receivable upfront.
The scheme for MIG categories has been extended till March 31, 2021, while it is valid up to March 31, 2022 for EWS/LIG category.