New Delhi, Dec 31 (IANS): The Central government on Monday extended the credit-linked subsidy scheme (CLSS) for the Middle Income Group (MIG) by 12 months to March 31, 2020, an official statement said.

It said that the number of beneficiaries under the scheme as of December 30, 2018 was 3,39,713 and the government has released a subsidy of Rs 7,543.64 crore.

"The growth and performance of CLSS for MIG scheme has been very good and we are on course to having about one lakh beneficiaries by the end of this year," the statement quoted Union Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri as saying.

Under the scheme, people belonging to the Lower Income Group (LIG) and Middle Income Group (MIG) can avail interest subsidy from the government on home loans.

The carpet area under the ambit of the scheme was enhanced to "up to 160 square metre" and "up to 200 square metre" for MIG-I and MIG-II, respectively, in June this year, which would come into effect on January 1, 2019.

Initially, the scheme was launched for MIG for a period of 12 months till March 31, 2017 and later extended up to March 31, 2019.