Interim Budget 2024: Sitharaman announces new housing scheme for middle class citizens

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government would launch a housing scheme for the middle class, schemes to help slum dwellers as well as those living on rent. She also said the government will give 2 crore more houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna - Gramin in 5 years.

Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled her final budget, which included a number of housing initiatives. The government intends to introduce a middle-class housing programme with the goal of helping them purchase or construct their own homes.

The schemes will be introduced to support slum dwellers and individuals living on rent, enabling them to purchase or construct their own houses. "Our government will launch a scheme to help deserving sections of the middle class “living in rented houses, or slums, or chawls and unauthorised colonies” to buy or build their own houses," she said in her budget speech.  

Sitharaman also announced the goal of providing 2 crore more houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna - Gramin. The Finance Minister stated that the government is close to achieving the target of 3 crore houses under the rural housing scheme, with an additional 2 crore to be constructed in the next five years.

Sitharaman presented the interim budget for 2024–25 utilising a computer tablet that was enveloped in a customary 'bahi-khata' style pouch, utilising a paperless format. This carries on the Finance Minister's practice of showcasing Budgets in a contemporary, electronic manner.

Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman Finance Minister, had in July 2019 ditched the colonial legacy of a Budget briefcase for the traditional 'bahi-khata' to carry Union Budget papers.
She used the same in the following year, and in a pandemic-hit 2021, she swapped traditional papers with a digital tablet for carrying her speech and other Budget documents.

She was appointed as the finance minister when Narendra Modi swept to power again in the 2019 election and presented her maiden Budget on July 5, 2019. The Budget for 2024-25 is Sitharaman's sixth straight Budget.