Saturday, March 11, 2017

Boost for affordable housing: SBI, German bank ink USD 274 mn agreement

COUNTRY's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on March 9 said it has inked an agreement with German KfW Development Bank for US dollar 274 million (Rs 1,800 crore) loan facility to finance affordable housing segment in the country.
With its focus on housing loans for economically weaker sections (EWS) and lower income group (LIG) households, the facility is designed to complement the government's flagship affordable housing programme, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the bank said in a statement issued here today.
The promotional loan has a maturity of 15 years. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget has announced according infrastructure status to affordable housing segment making it easier for developers of such houising easier to get finance. According to some calculations, at present, there is a shortfall of 18.8 million homes across India’s urban centres. Out of this, 15 million are needed in the LIG (Low Income Group) category. 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unveiled an ambitious programme of Housing for all by 2022 way back in 2015. "SBI is committed to support government's mission of Housing for All and this facility will be additional impetus to support this mission," SBI's deputy managing director Siddhartha Sengupta said.
The lower income household categories account for 95 per cent of the estimated shortage of 20 million housing units in the country.
German KfW Development Bank executive board member, Norbert Kloppenburg, said, "Sustainable mortgage loans to low income families to purchase, build or upgrade their homes are critical for inclusive growth and development."
The fund raising process was facilitated by SBI Capital Markets.

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