Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced a 66 per cent hike in the outlay for the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (PMAY) to Rs 79,000 crore.
The scheme envisions providing housing for both rural and urban poor, and the massive increase in its outlay is significant given that this is the NDA government's final proper budget before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Also as many as nine states go to polls this year.
In the meantime, Sitharaman further stated in her address when she presented the Union Budget for 2023–24 that the capital investment spending has been enhanced for the third year by 33% to Rs 10 lakh crore, which will be 3.3% of GDP.
She added that governmental agencies would use an urban infrastructure development fund that would be controlled by the National Housing Bank (NHB).
"We expect to make available Rs 10,000 crore per annum for the urban infra development fund," Sitharaman informed in the course of her speech.
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