Secretary, Department of Urban Development, MoHUA chairs 10th meeting of CSMC under PMAY-U 2.0

1. At a Glance

• PMAY-U 2.0 is the Centre's second-phase urban housing mission. It gives financial assistance to 1 crore more urban poor and middle-class families to construct, buy or rent a house at affordable cost [1][2].
• The Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) is the central body that approves State/UT housing proposals under the mission. Its 10th meeting approved ~1.93 lakh more houses [1].
• The scheme matters for UPSC because it covers urbanisation, welfare-scheme design, cooperative federalism, gender empowerment (women's ownership) and social inclusion (SC/ST/OBC, senior citizens) [1][2].

2. Why in the News

• 16 Oct 2026: The 10th CSMC meeting under PMAY-U 2.0 was held in New Delhi. It was chaired by Shri Satendra Singh, Secretary, Department of Urban Development (DoUD), MoHUA. It approved over 1.93 lakh more houses [1].
• The approvals were under the BLC and AHP verticals, for EWS families in 11 States [1].
• Cumulative sanctions under PMAY-U 2.0 now stand at 20.80 lakh houses [1].
• The Secretary called for faster occupancy of already-completed AHP houses built under the earlier PMAY-U [1].

3. Background & Evolution

• 25 Jun 2015: PMAY-U was launched under the "Housing for All" mission. It gave central assistance to States/UTs for pucca houses with basic amenities [6].
• Mission period: It was originally due to end on 31 Mar 2022. The Cabinet extended it to 31 Dec 2024 so that already-sanctioned houses could be completed, without changing the funding pattern [5].
• CLSS (the credit-linked subsidy vertical of PMAY-U) was not extended. It ended on 31 Mar 2022 [7].
• PMAY-U (phase 1) results, per a Dec 2024 PIB fact sheet: 1.18 crore houses sanctioned in 4,618 ULBs, of which 88.32 lakh were completed or delivered. Total investment was ₹8,07,393 crore. About ₹2 lakh crore of central assistance was sanctioned and ₹1.66 lakh crore released [2].
• 9 Aug 2024: The Union Cabinet approved PMAY-U 2.0 [2].
• Sep 2024: PMAY-U 2.0 was launched [1]. A Lok Sabha reply gives the start date as 1 Sep 2024 [7].
• 20 Mar 2025: The 1st CSMC under PMAY-U 2.0, chaired by the Secretary, MoHUA, approved over 3.52 lakh houses [3].
• 18 Jun 2025: The 3rd CSMC approved 2.35 lakh houses, bringing cumulative sanctions to 7.10 lakh [4].
• 16 Oct 2026: The 10th CSMC brought the cumulative total to 20.80 lakh [1].

4. Core Static Facts

Item	Fact
Ministry	Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). The CSMC is chaired by the Secretary, DoUD [1]
Mission head	JS & Mission Director, Housing for All (HFA) [1]
Cabinet approval	9 Aug 2024 [2]
Target	1 crore more urban families [1][2]
Outlay	₹2.30 lakh crore government assistance, within a total investment of ₹10 lakh crore [2]
Eligibility	EWS, LIG and MIG families with annual household income up to ₹9 lakh [1]
Assistance (BLC/AHP)	Up to ₹2.50 lakh per unit [1][2]
Central share	₹2.25 lakh (90%) in the NE region, HP, Uttarakhand, and the UTs of J&K, Puducherry and Delhi. ₹2.50 lakh (100%) in other UTs. ₹1.50 lakh (60%) in other States [2]
Four verticals	BLC: build a house on your own land. AHP: buy a house in a public or private project. ARH: rental housing. ISS: interest subsidy [1]
One-vertical rule	A beneficiary can take benefits under only one of the four verticals [2]
ISS	Subsidy up to ₹1.80 lakh on housing loans up to ₹25 lakh, for EWS/LIG/MIG [1]
ARH target groups	Working women, industrial workers, urban migrants, the homeless or destitute, and students [2]
State conditions	States must have an Affordable Housing Policy in place by Mar 2025, and finish the demand survey by 31 Mar 2025 [2]
Special focus groups	Safai karmis, PM SVANidhi street vendors, PM-Vishwakarma artisans, anganwadi workers, BoCW (construction workers), and slum/chawl residents [2]

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Social / Gender

• Of the 20.80 lakh houses sanctioned, 20.16 lakh (97%) are owned or jointly owned by women [1].
• Inclusion figures: 1.81 lakh houses for senior citizens, 3.61 lakh for SC, 1.06 lakh for ST and 9.14 lakh for OBC beneficiaries [1].
• In phase 1, about 89 lakh houses were in women's names or joint ownership. 16 lakh went to minorities, 23 lakh to SC/ST and 42 lakh to OBC beneficiaries [2].

Economic

• Phase 1 used about 570 lakh MT of cement and 130 lakh MT of steel, and generated 917 crore person-days of work [2].
• The ₹10 lakh crore total investment draws in money from States, beneficiaries and private partners on top of the central share [2].
• The ISS vertical connects the scheme to formal housing finance [1].

Administrative

• The sanctions are concentrated in a few States. UP (73,182) and Bihar (52,866) together account for about 65% of the 10th CSMC's 1.93 lakh houses [1].
• Bottlenecks named at the meeting: incomplete or non-compliant proposals, slow completion and occupancy, and vacant completed AHP houses [1].
• The Secretary called for regular meetings, due diligence on proposals, and sustained monitoring [1].

Governance / Federalism

• The scheme is a model of cooperative federalism: the Centre sanctions and funds, while States, UTs and ULBs identify beneficiaries and implement [1].
• States must sign MoAs with MoHUA and adopt affordable-housing policy reforms to qualify. By Dec 2024, 29 States/UTs had signed MoAs [2].
• Central-share ratios are differentiated (90% / 100% / 60%), which reflects fiscal-capacity equity for hill, NE and UT regions [2].

Urbanisation / Infrastructure

• ARH targets migrants and workers, which addresses rental demand in growing cities [2].
• Pucca housing with basic amenities is the core goal [6].

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• Jun 2025: 3rd CSMC: 2.35 lakh houses approved, cumulative 7.10 lakh [4].
• 16 Oct 2026: 10th CSMC: 1.93 lakh houses approved in 11 States, cumulative 20.80 lakh [1].
• Oct 2026 status: Under PMAY-U and PMAY-U 2.0 combined, over 1.27 crore houses have been sanctioned and 1.01 crore completed [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• PMAY-U was launched on 25 June 2015 [6].
• The Cabinet approved PMAY-U 2.0 on 9 August 2024, and it was launched in September 2024 [1][2].
• Target: 1 crore more urban families. Government assistance: ₹2.30 lakh crore [2].
• Income ceiling for eligibility: ₹9 lakh per year, covering EWS, LIG and MIG [1].
• Assistance under BLC/AHP: up to ₹2.50 lakh per unit [1].
• Central share: 90% in NE, HP, Uttarakhand, J&K, Delhi and Puducherry. 100% in other UTs. 60% in other States [2].
• ISS: up to ₹1.80 lakh subsidy on loans up to ₹25 lakh [1].
• Four verticals: BLC, AHP, ARH, ISS. A beneficiary can use only one [1][2].
• CLSS of PMAY-U ended on 31 Mar 2022 and was not part of the extension to Dec 2024 [7].
• The 10th CSMC met on 16 Oct 2026, chaired by the Secretary, DoUD, MoHUA [1].
• Uttar Pradesh got the most houses at the 10th CSMC (73,182). Sikkim got the fewest (29) [1].
• 97% of PMAY-U 2.0 houses are owned or co-owned by women [1].
• States had to prepare an Affordable Housing Policy by March 2025 [2].

8. Sanctioned Is Not Lived-In: The Gap the 10th CSMC Admitted

• The overall occupancy figure hides where the empty houses are
• Over 10 years, 96.65 lakh houses were completed under PMAY-U and PMAY-U 2.0. Of these, 94.2 lakh are occupied, which is about 97% [8].
• Most of the roughly 2.45 lakh empty houses are in the AHP and ISSR verticals. These are the flats built for the poorest families and slum dwellers. Few are in BLC, where families build on their own land and move in at once.
• ISSR means in-situ slum redevelopment: rebuilding a slum on the same spot. By Dec 2024, only 37% of sanctioned ISSR houses were complete. Of those, only about 30% were occupied [8].

• PMAY-U 2.0 has merged ISSR into AHP [8]. So this weak record now sits inside the same AHP vertical the 10th CSMC approved.

• A house is counted 'complete' before anyone can live in it

• In its 2023 report, the Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs found 5,62,858 completed AHP/ISSR houses unoccupied [10].
• It said AHP houses were counted as complete even when water, roads or the project itself were unfinished. In its words, the scheme measured output, not outcome [10].

• In Dec 2022, 5.6 lakh houses could not be handed over because basic services were missing [9].

• The flats get built, but the pipes and wires do not

• The Centre's money pays for the flat. Water, sewer and power lines must come from the urban local body (ULB, the city or town council).
• A CAG audit in Karnataka found AHP houses empty because ULBs had not released funds for water, sewerage and electricity [10].
• ULBs are weak. CAG (2024) found that their own revenue covers only 32% of their total revenue. Only 4 of the 18 functions listed in the 12th Schedule are fully devolved to them on average [8].

• 1,600 of 2,625 ULBs (61%) in 17 States had no elected council at the time of the audit [8]. So no local representative answers for the missing water pipe.

• Telangana shows how bad it can get

• Telangana combined its own 2BHK scheme with the PMAY-U AHP vertical. Of 48,178 houses completed by Mar 2021, 46,442 (96%) were not allotted and lay vacant [11].

• Why this matters for the 10th CSMC

• The Secretary's call to fill completed AHP houses is not a side issue. AHP is still being sanctioned while the old AHP stock sits empty [1].

9. Money Approved, Money Not Spent

• PMAY-U spends far less than its budget, year after year
• From 2017-18 to 2025-26, PMAY-U spent on average 34% less than it was budgeted [8].
• In 2024-25, only 19% of the budget was actually spent [8].
• In 2025-26, the budget was ₹25,794 crore. The Revised Estimate (RE, the mid-year updated figure) cut this to ₹7,900 crore, about 31% [8].

• This underspending pulled the whole Ministry's use of funds down from 94% (2017-18 to 2020-21) to 77% (2021-22 to 2025-26) [8].

• Why sanctions run ahead of spending

• Central money is released in instalments, as construction moves forward.
• Before money can flow, States must sign MoAs, adopt an affordable-housing policy and finish demand surveys [2]. The 10th CSMC itself named incomplete and non-compliant proposals as a bottleneck [1].

• So a big CSMC sanction tells you about approvals, not about bricks laid.

• The pace question

• PMAY-U 2.0 targets 1 crore houses in five years from Sep 2024 [2][7].
• About 25 months in (roughly 40% of the time), sanctions stand at 20.80 lakh, about 21% of the target [1].
• The 2026-27 budget for PMAY-U is ₹22,025 crore, 179% above the 2025-26 RE [8]. That big jump will mean little if the pattern of underspending continues.

10. Why the Landless Urban Poor Get Left Out

• BLC helps only those who already own land
• About 60% of the 123 lakh houses sanctioned under phase 1 were BLC [9].
• The Standing Committee (2023) said this over-reliance on BLC weakens the scheme's purpose, because many of the urban homeless own no land [9].

• BLC also accounted for 61% of all curtailed houses, meaning sanctions later cancelled or cut [9].

• The poor family pays most of the cost

• An EWS house costs about ₹6.5 lakh on average. On average the beneficiary pays about 60% of it [9].
• Some States (Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Rajasthan) were not paying their State share at all [9].

• A family that cannot raise its share stops building halfway. That is one reason houses get curtailed.

• Land cost breaks the AHP model in big cities

• Land is about 10% of a house's cost in rural areas, but up to 63% in metros [8].
• A NITI Aayog–MoHUA committee (2025) found that many urban families cannot afford even a standard 30 sq m flat, despite the subsidy [8].

• In 2025, the Standing Committee asked for a higher central amount per AHP house. The Ministry replied that changing the guidelines now may delay the scheme [8].

• Building rules shrink the supply of flats

• FSI, or FAR, is the floor space you may build on a plot of land. Low FSI means fewer flats per plot.
• The HPEC (2011) found that FSI in Indian cities does not go above 4. Many global cities allow more than 10 [8].
• So the same costly land produces fewer flats, and builders lose interest in EWS projects.

11. The Case That the Scheme Works, and Where It Stops

• The strongest case for the scheme
• More than 1 crore houses are complete, and about 97% of them are occupied [1][8].
• The Ministry says 83% of the housing shortage identified under the scheme has been covered. UP, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have crossed 100% of their identified demand [8].
• 97% of PMAY-U 2.0 houses are in women's names or joint names. That is a real asset transfer to women [1].

• This is fair. For families who own a plot in a small town, the scheme has largely worked.

• The reply: '83% addressed' depends on what you count as demand

• The shortage was first estimated at 2 crore houses. Demand found through the scheme's surveys was only 1.23 crore [9]. The 83% is measured against this smaller, self-reported number.
• The TG-12 group estimated an urban shortage of 1.87 crore houses from the 2011 Census. 56% of that shortage was among EWS families [8].
• The NITI Aayog–MoHUA committee (2025) put the shortage at 5 to 7 crore across metro, urban and semi-urban areas [8].

• That committee also said the scheme is 'demand-driven'. It builds for those who apply, not for where the shortage actually is [8].

• The success is uneven across States

• Sikkim has met 15% of its identified demand, Manipur 39% and Delhi 40% [8].

• At the 10th CSMC, UP and Bihar got about 65% of the houses [1]. Approvals follow the States that file proposals fastest, not the States with the biggest gaps.

• Honest verdict

• The scheme is good at delivering houses to families who own land.
• It is weak where the problem is hardest: landless, rental and metro households. The current numbers do not measure that part well.
• The NITI committee also noted there is no complete, up-to-date official dataset on urban affordable housing [8].

12. Rental Housing: Most Urban Poor Rent, but the Scheme Builds to Own

• A large share of city people rent, and most of them are poor
• In the 2011 Census, 27% of urban residents lived in rented homes, mostly through informal deals [8].
• A NAREDCO report found that 80% of renting households are EWS/LIG [8].

• 19% of all internal migrants in 2020-21 moved from rural to urban areas [8]. Migrants need a room near work, not a flat 20 km away.

• The earlier rental scheme barely started

• ARHC (Affordable Rental Housing Complexes, launched 2020) planned to turn about 75,000 vacant government houses into rental units [8].
• By Feb 2023, only 5,648 had been converted. 4,470 were occupied [8].

• By Mar 2025, 82,273 new ARHC units had been approved, in only seven States [8].

• Why private builders stay away from rental housing

• Rent-control laws in many States protect tenants so strongly that owners cannot raise rent. Rental returns stay low [8].
• Rental flats run by companies are charged commercial rates for municipal services, and their rent agreements attract GST. A private landlord renting out a house pays residential rates and no GST [8].

• The Model Tenancy Act, 2021 tries to balance owner and tenant rights. By Dec 2025, only six States (AP, Tamil Nadu, UP, Uttarakhand, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh) had passed laws on its lines [8].

• What other countries did differently

• UK: 20% of housing stock is government-aided rental. Austria: 23%. India's policy, by contrast, mainly promotes ownership [8].
• USA: the Housing Choice Voucher programme pays part of a poor family's rent directly to the landlord. The average subsidy is about USD 9,400 a year [8].
• Singapore: 80% of residents live in Housing and Development Board flats. These are built next to metro lines, job centres and schools [8].

13. Who Must Act, and What They Should Do

• MoHUA should count occupied houses, not completed ones
• The Standing Committee asked the Ministry to report how many houses are actually occupied [10].

• CSMC approvals of new AHP projects could depend on a State's occupancy rate in its existing AHP stock. That would turn the 10th CSMC's appeal into a rule.

• Do not sanction AHP until the ULB has funded the services

• The Karnataka audit shows what happens when the flat and the pipes are funded separately [10].

• The 16th Finance Commission recommended ₹3.6 lakh crore in grants for ULBs for 2026-31. These include tied grants for water and sanitation [8]. These grants could pay for trunk lines to AHP sites.

• Vary central help by land cost and terrain

• In 2023, the Standing Committee recommended that any second phase drop uniform central assistance. The amount should vary with factors such as topography [9].

• PMAY-U 2.0 gives higher shares only to NE, hill States and UTs [2]. Metro land cost is still not counted.

• Fill empty flats by renting them out

• The ARHC model already allows vacant government houses to be converted into rental complexes [8].

• States with large vacant AHP stock, like Telangana [11], could move those flats into the ARH vertical.

• Free up land and fix rental rules: NITI Aayog's 2025 framework

• Build land banks from vacant or underused land owned by ministries. Lease it for 30 to 50 years to agencies building affordable rental housing [8].
• Treat affordable rental housing as residential, so that it pays lower service charges and no GST [8].
• States should adopt the Model Tenancy Act, 2021 [8].

14. Anchors for Answers

• Data: 96.65 lakh houses completed under PMAY-U + 2.0, of which 94.2 lakh are occupied. Only about 30% of completed ISSR houses are occupied [8]
• Data: PMAY-U spent 34% less than budgeted on average (2017-18 to 2025-26). In 2025-26, RE was ₹7,900 crore against a budget of ₹25,794 crore [8]
• Data: 5,62,858 completed AHP/ISSR houses unoccupied (Standing Committee, 2023) [10]. In Telangana, 96% of completed AHP-linked houses were not allotted [11]
• Report/Committee: Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs, 'Evaluation of Implementation of PMAY-U', Report No. 17, Mar 2023: BLC over-reliance and the beneficiary paying about 60% of cost [9]
• Report/Committee: NITI Aayog–MoHUA, 'A Comprehensive Framework to Promote Affordable Housing', Dec 2025: shortage of 5 to 7 crore; land up to 63% of metro housing cost [8]
• Report/Committee: TG-12 Technical Group on Urban Housing Shortage (2012-17): 1.87 crore shortage, 56% of it EWS [8]. HPEC 2011: Indian FSI no higher than 4 [8]
• Law/Case: 74th Constitutional Amendment Act / 12th Schedule: only 4 of 18 functions fully devolved to ULBs (CAG 2024) [8]. Model Tenancy Act, 2021: adopted by six States [8]
• Comparison: USA Housing Choice Vouchers pay rent directly to landlords. Singapore HDB houses 80% of residents near transit. UK and Austria hold 20 to 23% of housing stock as government-aided rental [8]
• Scheme: ARHC (2020): only 5,648 vacant houses converted by Feb 2023. It is the model for using empty AHP stock as rental housing [8]

15. Mains Relevance

• GS-II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections; mechanisms and performance of such schemes; Centre–State relations.
• GS-I: Urbanisation, its problems and remedies; role of women.
• GS-III: Inclusive growth; infrastructure; investment models (PPP in AHP).
• Possible question stems: 1. PMAY-U 2.0 moves from ownership-only housing to a mix of ownership, rental and credit support. Critically examine whether this design addresses India's urban housing shortage. (GS-II, 15 marks) 2. Women's ownership of houses under PMAY-U has been called a quiet revolution in asset-based empowerment. Discuss. (GS-I/II) 3. Completed affordable houses lying vacant point to a gap between sanction and outcome in urban housing schemes. Identify the causes and suggest reforms. (GS-II/III)

16. Related Topics to Study Next

• PMAY-Gramin: the rural counterpart. Contrast its ministry (MoRD) and design.
• Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC): the predecessor to the ARH vertical, aimed at migrants.
• PM SVANidhi: its street vendors are a named special-focus group under PMAY-U 2.0 [2].
• PM-Vishwakarma: its artisans are also a special-focus group [2].
• AMRUT / Smart Cities Mission: urban infrastructure schemes that complement housing.
• Model Tenancy Act, 2021: the regulatory backdrop for the rental-housing vertical.
• SDG 11 (sustainable cities) / UN-Habitat: the global framing of "adequate housing."

17. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• PMAY-Urban (Polity): This is the scheme the whole note is about, including its 2024 second phase and four verticals.
• Cooperative federalism (Polity): Centre sanctions and funds while States and city bodies identify beneficiaries and build, with cost-sharing ratios.
• Standing committee (Polity): Its 2023 and 2025 reports exposed vacant houses, over-reliance on BLC and the beneficiary paying most of the cost.
• Comptroller and Auditor General (Polity): CAG audits found empty AHP houses in Karnataka and Telangana and weak finances of urban local bodies.
• Urbanisation (Geography): Housing shortage, migration to cities and rental demand all come from India's rapid urban growth.
• Slum (Geography): In-situ slum redevelopment, now merged into AHP, has the weakest completion and occupancy record in the note.

18. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Who chairs the CSMC: The 10th CSMC was chaired by the Secretary, Department of Urban Development, MoHUA [1]. The 1st was chaired by the "Secretary, MoHUA" [3]. It is not chaired by the Minister or by NITI Aayog.
• ₹2.50 lakh vs ₹2.25 lakh vs ₹1.50 lakh: ₹2.50 lakh is the total government assistance per unit. ₹2.25 lakh and ₹1.50 lakh are the central shares for the special-category regions and for other States [2].
• Start date: Sources give 1 Sep 2024 [7] and "September 2024" [1]. Cabinet approval was on 9 Aug 2024 [2]. Don't mix up approval and launch.
• CLSS vs ISS: CLSS belonged to PMAY-U and ended in Mar 2022 [7]. ISS is the PMAY-U 2.0 vertical [1].
• Cumulative figures: 20.80 lakh is the PMAY-U 2.0 total only. 1.27 crore sanctioned and 1.01 crore completed are the combined figures for phase 1 and 2.0 [1]. Don't add the phase totals together yourself.
• Not confirmed here: The income slabs within the ₹9 lakh limit (EWS / LIG / MIG) and the ISS interest-rate details were not in any retrieved whitelisted source. Check them against the official PMAY-U 2.0 Operational Guidelines.