New home loan borrowers of up to Rs 15 lakh will get Rs 14,865 as interest subsidy from the Government, on the condition that the cost of the house should not exceed Rs 25 lakh.
Announcing the Cabinet's decision here on Tuesday, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Ms Ambika Soni, said, “The Cabinet has approved the proposal of increasing the cap under interest subvention scheme. It will be effective from the date of notification.” A revised scheme for interest subvention was announced in the Budget this year.
Earlier, the Government was giving interest subsidy for loans up to Rs 10 lakh. The condition was that the cost of the house should not exceed Rs 20 lakh. The interest subsidy amount was fixed at Rs 9,910.
Ms Soni said that borrowers from all scheduled commercial banks and housing finance companies would be covered under the scheme. The National Housing Bank will act as the nodal agency for the revised scheme.
The decision will benefit a good number of prospective home loan buyers. According to an estimate, nearly a third of the total home loan borrowers fall in the category of up to Rs 15 lakh. This will also help real estate companies to focus more on affordable housing, a senior government official said.