The government Wednesday approved the construction of nearly four lakh affordable houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), taking the total number to about 72.5 lakh, an official said Wednesday.

Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said the mission is well on its way of achieving the target of one crore homes for urban areas in the country.

The PMAY(U), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015, aims to ensure "Housing for all by 2022" 

According to Mishra, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have been sanctioned nearly one lakh houses each. the PMAY (U) is going "steady and strong" every month, he said.

The approval was given at a meeting of the central sanctioning and monitoring committee (CSMC) of the PMAY (U) on Wednesday.

"With nearly 4 lakh homes sanctioned at the 42nd CSMC today, the total number of homes sanctioned under this flagship mission with the vision of providing a home to every Indian has crossed 72.5 lakhs," Mishra tweeted.

The government has set a target of one crore houses to be constructed in urban areas in the country over a period of seven years from 2015 to 2022.

About PMAY- Urban:

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Programme launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA), in Mission mode envisions provision of Housing for All by 2022, when the Nation completes 75 years of its Independence.

The Mission seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum dwellers through following programme verticals:

• Slum rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers with participation of private developers using land as a resource.
• Promotion of Affordable Housing for weaker section through credit linked subsidy.
• Affordable Housing in Partnership with Public & Private sectors.
• Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction /enhancement.

Key facts:

• The beneficiaries are poor and people living under EWS and LIG categories in the country.
• The scheme is divided into three phases. In the first phase, a total of 100 cities will be covered from April 2015 to March 2017. In phase two, 200 cities will be covered from April 2017 to March 2019. In the third phase, the leftover cities will be covered from April 2019 to March 2022.
• The government is providing an interest subsidy of 6.5% on housing loans which can be availed by beneficiaries for 15 years from start of loan date.
• The government will grant Rs 1 lakh to all the beneficiaries of the scheme. In addition, Rs 1.5 lakh will be given to all eligible urban poor who want to construct their houses in urban areas or plan to go for renovation in their existing houses. One can also avail loans under this scheme to build toilets in existing houses.