Policy Update
Aravindsamy R
Background
Launched in January 2019, under PMAY‑Urban, the Global Housing Technology Challenge‑India (GHTC‑India) represents a policy innovation aimed at addressing India’s urban housing deficit through technology-led solutions. While PMAY‑U has sanctioned approximately 11.8 million and completed around 8.4 million homes by mid-2024, GHTC‑India supplements this mission by adopting efficient, sustainable and scalable housing technologies.
This initiative aligns with urbanization trends—India’s urban population is expected to reach 594 million by 2036—underscoring the need for scalable housing solutions. GHTC‑India positions itself at the convergence of international innovation and local adaptation, supporting India’s broader goals under PMAY‑U, Smart Cities and Sustainable Development Goal 11.
Functioning
1. Technology Selection and Pilot Deployment
An open call for global construction technologies in mid-2019 resulted in six Lighthouse Projects (LHPs), each involving approximately 1,000 housing units. The selected sites and technologies include:
- Indore: Prefab sandwich panels (completed October 2023)
- Chennai: Precast concrete system (nearing completion)
- Rajkot: Tunnel-form concrete (advanced phase)
- Ranchi: 3D precast concrete (ongoing)
- Agartala: Light gauge steel frame (in progress)
- Lucknow: PVC stay-in-place formwork (ongoing)
Each site serves as a “live laboratory” for testing, training, and demonstrating rapid, climate-resilient housing (GHTC‑India Portal).
2. Governance Framework and Funding Mechanism
Funding is provided through Technology Innovation Grants (TIGs)—up to ₹2 lakh per unit or 20 percent of construction cost. Disbursement follows milestone-based tranches: 40 percent at approval, 40 percent at 70 percent construction, and the remaining 20 percent on completion. BMTPC manages the escrow-based funding under PMAY‑U guidelines, ensuring compliance with government audit norms (MoHUA 2023).
3. Monitoring via MIS and Capacity-Building
Project progress is tracked through PMAY‑U’s MIS and CLAP dashboard, integrated with BIM and geo-tagging for real-time monitoring across construction stages. State-level Project Monitoring Committees (PMCs) supervise implementation. Additionally, LHPs host training programs that include engineers, government technical staff, masons, and students. The parallel ASHA‑India initiative supports domestic MSMEs and startups to develop local construction technologies (MoHUA MIS; PIB, 2024).
Performance (2022–2025)
Budget & Disbursement
- A total of ₹150 crore has been allocated under TIG to support six LHP sites (MoHUA, 2023).
- PMAY‑U 2.0 received ₹30,171 crore in 2024–25—a 36 percent increase from the previous year (Demand for Grants 2025–26, MoHUA).
- A significant provision of ₹3,500 crore was made under interest subsidy to support lower-income groups in 2025–26.
Project Progress Status
| Location | Technology | Construction Status (Mid-2025) |
| Indore | Prefab sandwich panels | Completed (Oct‑23) |
| Chennai | Precast concrete | ~90% completed |
| Rajkot | Tunnel-form concrete | ~85% completed |
| Ranchi | 3D precast concrete | Ongoing |
| Agartala | Light gauge steel frame | ~75% completed |
| Lucknow | PVC stay-in-place formwork | Ongoing |
These LHPs have achieved nearly a 50 percent reduction in construction time, delivering ~1,000 homes in 10–12 months—compared to the typical 24 months under conventional processes (CSEP, 2024; MoHUA, 2023).
Monitoring Effectiveness
PMAY‑U’s MIS dashboard provides centralized data on planning area metrics like sanctions, fund utilization, geo-tagging, and construction timeline. However, granular state- and ULB-level data remain inaccessible to civil society, limiting external evaluation (PMAY‑U MIS).
Impact
1. Reduced Construction Time and Costs: LHPs enable accelerated housing delivery, enabling cities to address urban housing shortages swiftly and efficiently.
2. Sustainable Outcomes: These technologies result in 30–40 percent reductions in cement, water use, and construction waste, aligning with eco-friendly building practices (MoHUA, 2024).
3. Skill Development and Innovation: More than 1,000 professionals—including engineers, masons, and government supervisors—have undergone hands-on training at LHP sites. ASHA‑India nurtures a pipeline of local construction-tech innovations via incubators and grants, supporting homegrown solutions.
4. Digital Governance and Transparency: Integration of digital tools—CLAP, BIM, geotagging and UMANG—improves monitoring rigor and reduces bureaucratic friction (MoHUA MIS; PIB, 2024).
5. Policy Integration and Ecosystem Strengthening: GHTC‑India’s inclusion in PMAY‑U 2.0 and its echo in Smart Cities, ARHC (rental housing), and Skill India points to its role in framing a coherent urban development ecosystem (MoHUA annual report 2022–23).
Emerging Issues
1. Limited Public Access to Data: MIS dashboards and BIM visuals are accessible only to government stakeholders. Independent audit or academic review of detailed site-level data remains constrained (CSEP, 2024).
2. High Initial Investment: While TIGs offset some costs, high capital requirements still deter smaller developers and pose scalability challenges.
3. Skill Gaps in the Workforce: Rapid adoption of new technologies is affected by the absence of a structured, large-scale skilling program for masons and site laborers.
4. State-Level Policy Divergence: Varying adherence to building norms, FAR regulations, and stamp-duty reforms at the state or municipal level limits technology adoption and replication (ORF, 2022).
Way Forward
1. Ensure Public Access to MIS & BIM Data: Releasing dashboards publicly can enable independent evaluations and build policy confidence. An anonymized public dashboard would increase transparency and trust.
2. Expand Skill Certification Programs: Integrate LHP-based training modules with NSDC certification to skill 5,000 masons, engineers, and site supervisors over the next three years.
3. Mobilize Blended Finance: Launch ESG-focused bonds and mixed-capital schemes to support innovation in construction technologies at scale.
4. Align State-Level Policy Frameworks: Encourage adoption of pre-approved techno norms, FAR incentives, and delivery-friendly stamp-duty regulations across states and urban local bodies.
5. Scale Indigenous Innovations: Facilitate pilot-to-market transitions of ASHA‑India technologies for wider deployment under PMAY‑U 2.0 and Smart Cities frameworks.
Forecast & Future Outlook
With urbanization accelerating, India is poised to require approximately 25 million new urban homes by 2036, according to MoHUA and National Commission on Population projections. From 2015 to 2025, the Economic Survey reports have highlighted PMAY‑U’s scale—1.18 crore homes sanctioned, 1.14 crore grounded, and 89 lakh completed by late 2024
Building on this, PMAY‑U 2.0 pledges an additional 1 crore homes by 2029, backed by a 36% increase in allocation (₹30,171 crore for 2024–25) and renewed interest subsidies (₹3,500 crore in 2025–26) Financial and temporal modelling suggests that if 25% of PMAY‑U projects adopt GHTC technologies, India could achieve:
- 30–50% reduction in build times, making 10–12 months typical for 1,000-home batches (compared with 24 months for RCC) .
- 20–25% savings in resources like cement, water, and construction waste .
Applying these benchmarks to the 25 million future homes, the estimated benefits include:
- Truncating collective construction time from 25 million homes from ~50 years to 25–35 years.
- Avoiding approximately 5–6 million tonnes of cement, 10–12 billion litres of water, and 3–4 million cubic meters of construction waste (based on GHTC site performance metrics).
Technology Standardization: MoHUA plans to issue national guidelines for construction-tech deployment by 2026 to reduce regulatory roadblocks and ease replication across states.
Digital Governance Tools: By 2027, PMAY‑U rollout is expected to incorporate BIM, AI-enabled dashboards, drone monitoring, and real-time geo-tagging for over 5 million homes, enhancing project governance and data accountability.
Green Housing Finance: Government and financial institutions are exploring green housing bonds and ESG-linked capital schemes to lower the cost barriers of innovative technologies—potentially unlocking ₹10,000–20,000 crore private capital for tech-led housing projects by 2030.
Taken together, these trends project that by 2035:
- GHTC‑aligned projects could constitute 20–30% of PMAY‑U completions.
- Annual construction cycles may shorten by 6–8 months on average, enabling more incremental completion of homes.
- Policy and training reforms could lead to 500,000–600,000 skilling certifications for on-site personnel.
- Resource conservation and carbon reduction outcomes align with India’s net-zero commitments and sustainable development goals.
Conclusion
Since 2019, GHTC‑India has matured from a small pilot into a scalable blueprint for integrating innovative technologies in affordable housing. It has delivered measurable gains in construction speed, sustainability, workforce development, and digital governance. With strategic interventions—public data access, financing, skilling, policy alignment, and support for domestic innovation—GHTC‑India has the potential to emerge as a foundational platform for India’s urban housing transformation.
References
1. Centre for Social and Economic Progress. (2024). Deconstructing PMAY‑U: What the numbers reveal. CSEP. https://csep.org/reports/deconstructing-pmay-u-what-the-numbers-reveal/
2. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. (2024). Demand for Grants 2025–26: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Government of India. https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/eb/sbe56.pdf
3. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. (2023). Annual report 2022–23. Government of India. https://mohua.gov.in/pdf/636f69b0aeb98Annual%20Report%202022-23%20English.pdf
4. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. (2023). PMAY‑U MIS & CLAP Dashboard. Government of India. https://pmay-urban.gov.in/clap-dashboard
5. Press Information Bureau. (2024). Year end review 2022: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Government of India. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1887204
6. Observer Research Foundation. (2022). How fares the PMAY (U)? Taking stock of India’s national housing mission. ORF. https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/how-fares-the-pmayu/
7. Wikipedia contributors. (2024). Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pradhan_Mantri_Awas_Yojana_(Urban)
8. Hindustan Times. (2024, February 1). Economic Survey 2024–25: Around 1.18 crore houses sanctioned under PMAY-Urban. Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/real-estate/economic-survey-2024-2025-around-1-18-crore-houses-sanctioned-under-pmayurban-101738320328640.html
9. The Realty Today. (2024, February 2). Economic Survey 2024–25: 1.18 crore houses sanctioned under PMAY-U and 7479 projects completed under Smart Cities. https://www.therealtytoday.com/news/economic-survey-2024-2025-118-crore-houses-sanctioned-under-pmay-u-and-7479-projects-completed-under-smart-cities
About the Contributor
Aravindsamy R is a Research Intern at IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi. He has completed his Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Madras. His research interests include urban governance, public policy, research analysis and open-source intelligence.
Acknowledgement– The author extends sincere gratitude to Dr. Arjun Kumar and Aasthaba Jadeja for their invaluable guidance and support.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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