Under the two phases of the flagship Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Urban (PMAY-U), aimed at addressing the urban housing shortage, a total of 122.06 lakh homes have been sanctioned, of which 96.02 lakh have been delivered to beneficiaries across the country as of November 24, 2025, the Economic Survey 2025-2026 said on January 29.
“The government has undertaken multiple interventions to support affordable housing in urban areas. These include direct tax and GST benefits, inclusion in priority sector lending, which enables higher loan-to-value ratios and therefore smaller down payments, and provision of infrastructure status, amongst others. Under the two phases of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U), a total of 122.06 lakh houses have been sanctioned, of which 96.02 lakh have been completed/delivered to the beneficiaries across the country as on 24.11.2025,” the Economic Survey said.
The Survey also stated that as of May 9, 2025, cities under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) had completed a substantial majority of planned projects, including smart roads, cycle tracks, command and control centres, upgraded water and sewerage networks, and vibrant public spaces with over 90 per cent of the roughly 8,067 projects completed and nearly ₹1.64 lakh crore invested.
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The Survey explained that the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) has played a central role in restoring and strengthening the livelihoods of urban street vendors (SV).
The Survey said that in many Indian cities, affordable housing increasingly appears in peripheral areas due to lower land costs and easier access to large plots. Developers often move projects to the outskirts to keep prices attractive for low and middle-income buyers, as land acquisition is simpler. However, these areas typically lack sufficient infrastructure, including poor connectivity to employment centres, inadequate mass transit systems and civic amenities.
Consequently, while these locations offer affordable housing, they often fall short in essential urban services required for sustainable living. This creates a dilemma: despite higher demand driven by affordability, the lack of proper infrastructure hampers their liveability and long-term appeal, the survey showed.
The Economic Survey 2025-2026 noted that future urban policy must prioritise system performance over standalone projects—integrating housing, mobility, sanitation, climate resilience, and finance—while designing liveable, climate-ready cities that support inclusion and long-term economic efficiency.
It said that the promise of building India’s urban future lies in making “our cities economically dynamic, socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable and institutionally capable.”
Home loans hit ₹37 lakh crore
The Economic Survey also noted that India’s housing market is becoming increasingly financialised, with outstanding individual housing loans more than tripling over the past decade to over ₹37 lakh crore in March 2025, from around ₹10 lakh crore in March 2015. Housing loans now account for more than 11 per cent of GDP, up from 8 per cent a decade ago, highlighting the growing role of formal credit in driving housing demand.
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“On average, housing volume sales continue to remain higher compared to FY22-FY24. India’s housing finance market has expanded steadily, with outstanding individual housing loans more than tripling from about ₹10 lakh crore as at the end of March 2015 to over ₹37 lakh crore at end March 2025, raising housing loans from 8.0 per cent to over 11 per cent of GDP, indicating a deeper financialisation of housing demand,” said the Economic Survey 2025-2026