Budget 2026–27: PM Awas Yojana in focus as Centre boosts rural and urban housing — what to expect

As the Union Budget for the 2026–27 financial year is set to be presented on February 1, a Sunday, housing is expected to remain a key focus area, with allocations for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) closely watched. Housing has remained central to the government’s development agenda since May 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi articulated a vision to provide pucca houses to poor families in both rural and urban areas. This led to the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana—Urban in 2015 and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana—Gramin in 2016. Budget allocations for PMAY-Urban, PMAY-Urban 2.0, and PMAY-Gramin stood at Rs 40,260 crore in FY21, Rs 90,020 crore in FY22, Rs 73,615 crore in FY23, Rs 43,454 crore in FY24, Rs 47,596 crore in FY25 (RE), and Rs 78,126 crore in FY26 (BE). On August 9, 2024, the Union Cabinet approved financial assistance for the construction of two crore additional houses at the existing unit assistance of Rs.1.20 lakh in plain areas and Rs.1.30 lakh in North Eastern Region States and Hill States of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh.Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Gramin (PMAY-G), the focus has been on housing the poorest sections of society. Beneficiaries are selected through a three-stage validation process involving the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC 2011), Awaas+ (2018) surveys, Gram Sabha approvals, and geo-tagging. The scheme uses IT-enabled systems, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), and geo-tagged photographs at various construction stages to ensure transparency and timely fund disbursement.Against an overall target of 3.32 crore houses under PMAY-G, 3.21 crore houses had been sanctioned as of November 19, 2024, with 2.67 crore houses completed. Over the last 11 years, construction of 3.70 crore houses has been completed, significantly improving living conditions in rural areas.Women empowerment has been a key feature of PMAY-G, with 74 percent of sanctioned houses owned by women either solely or jointly. The programme now aspires to achieve 100 percent ownership by women. Skill development has also been prioritised, with nearly three lakh rural masons trained in disaster-resilient construction techniques.Urban housing has also progressed steadily. Under the two phases of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Urban, 122.06 lakh houses had been sanctioned as of 24 November 2025. Complementing this, urban services have expanded significantly: door-to-door collection of municipal solid waste reached 98 percent of urban wards under Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 by 2025–26, and over 90 percent of 8,067 Smart City Mission projects have been completed, with nearly Rs 1.64 lakh crore invested as of 9 May 2025.Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table her ninth consecutive Budget in Parliament, outlining the Centre’s fiscal priorities, economic strategy, and policy direction for the coming year.The Budget will present the government’s statement of accounts and signal its approach to resource allocation, offering insight into sectors likely to receive enhanced support. Beyond fiscal numbers, it will serve as a roadmap for the Union government’s broader growth strategy. This will be the first time in recent history that the Union Budget is presented on a Sunday. The Budget Session of Parliament began on January 28 and will continue until April 2.