New Delhi, Aug 15 (IANS): Thee World Bank will extend a $100-million loan for sustainable housing in India that can be used to purchase, build or upgrade low-cost dwellings, the finance ministry said Thursday.
The state-run National Housing Bank will execute this project.
"Financing under the project aims to create incentives for lenders to focus on lower-income households through a net reduction of the lenders' cost of funds of approximately 200-300 basis points," the ministry said.
"The project also aims to deliver on its stated objective of reaching a higher proportion of lower income households while maintaining portfolio quality standards."
As per official estimates, there is a shortage of around 25 million low-cost dwelling units in India. Funding is a major problem as these projects are often charged interest rates 200-300 basis points higher than normal.