MUMBAI: The upper ceiling for the housing loans under priority sector lending (PSL) has been raised to Rs35 lakh in metropolitan centres (with population of 10 lakh and above) and to Rs25 lakh in other centres provided the overall cost of the dwelling units does not exceed Rs45 lakh and 30 lakh in the said centres respectively.
Since the priority sector loans attract lower interest compared with the market rates, the RBI move is expected to give relief to those in the low-income group who are planning to buy houses.
The loan market has entered a rising interest regime after the RBI increased the key policy rates early this month.
The RBI move will help revive the real estate industry, which has been languishing for some time, especially in the leading Indian cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, etc. This will also give a push to the low-cost housing, which is the new buzzword in the housing industry the world over.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement that the upward revision in the PSL loan limits by Rs5 lakh to Rs7 lakh was to bring convergence of the Priority Sector Lending guidelines for housing loans with the Affordable Housing Scheme (AFS), and also to give a fillip to low-cost housing for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Low Income Groups (LIG).
Furthermore, the existing family income limit of Rs2 lakh per annum, has been revised to Rs3 lakh per annum for EWS and Rs6 lakh per annum for LIG, in alignment with the income criteria specified under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
