New Delhi:

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced a fresh Rs 15,000 crore ‘SWAMIH Fund’ for completion of 1 lakh units in stalled housing projects, a move aimed at providing relief to homebuyers whose investments are stuck.

In November 2019, the Centre announced a stress fund named ‘Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing’ (SWAMIH), to complete stalled housing projects across India. The fund is being managed by SBICAP Ventures Ltd, a State Bank Group company.

Ms Sitharaman, in her budget speech, announced the SWAMIH Fund-2 following the success of the first fund.

Under the SWAMIH Fund-1, the finance minister highlighted that 50,000 dwelling units in stressed housing projects have been completed and keys have been handed over to homebuyers.

Another 40,000 units will be completed in 2025, further helping middle-class families who were paying EMIs (equated monthly instalments) on loans taken for apartments, while also paying rent for their current dwellings, the finance minister said.

“Building on this success, SWAMIH Fund-2 will be established as a blended finance facility with contribution from the government, banks and private investors. This fund of Rs 15,000 crore will aim for expeditious completion of another 1 lakh units,” Ms Sitharaman said.

Under the SWAMIH Fund-1, Rs 15,530 crore has been raised so far with an aim to provide priority debt financing for the completion of stressed, brownfield and Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) registered residential projects that fall in the affordable, mid-income housing category.

Since the fund considers first-time developers, established developers with troubled projects, developers with a poor track record of stalled projects, customer complaints and NPA accounts, and even projects where there are litigation issues, it is considered as the lender of last resort for distressed projects.

A study, by data analytic firm PropEquity commissioned by SBI Ventures Ltd in 2019, estimated that about 1,500 projects with 4.58 lakh housing units were stalled/stressed and required aggregate funding of Rs 55,000 crore to complete the stalled projects. 

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