Now, houses under PM Awas Yojana to cost less

LUCKNOW: Now, houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) are going to cost less as the GST rates on PM Awas houses have been slashed from existing 12 percent to 8 percent.

After the reduced GST rate, cost of one house will come down by ₹18000. In the state capital, this deduction came as good news for the 30,000 beneficiaries of the scheme.

The decision to bring down the GST rate to 8 percent on houses to be constructed under the PMAY was taken during the recent GST Council meeting held in New Delhi.

Under the Centre’s credit linked subsidy scheme, around 30,000 houses will be constructed in the state capital. The Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) is constructing 12,000 such houses, the Awas Vikas is developing 10,000 and private developers will offer 8,000 houses.

According to LDA officials, now the GST would be applicable only on the construction cost of the house, keeping cost of the land out of the GST’s ambit. “It was decided at the meeting that out of the total cost (land plus construction of the house), one-third will be the land’s cost. Therefore, the GST will be applicable only on the two-third of the total cost of the

house,” said an LDA official.

“Now, instead of 12 percent, 8 percent GST will be applicable on the houses constructed under the PMAY,” said MP Singh, LDA secretary.

Under the Centre’s scheme, a house will come up on less than 60 square meter of land. The scheme’s beneficiary will be the families who are purchasing a house for the first time and have a total income of less than 18 lakh per annum. Beneficiaries of this project in urban areas will be those who own a land, at least for the time being. The union government has set a target to provide a house to all by 2022. The Uttar Pradesh government has already announced to construct two lakh houses this year under the PMAY. The two-room set would also have a bathroom and a kitchen.