Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during a post-budget interaction event in Mumbai today, handed over keys to homebuyers from select projects in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), whose long-stressed residential projects were completed under the “Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH I) Investment Fund”.

This milestone marks the completion of 50,000 homes facilitated by the SWAMIH Fund. Homebuyers from projects including Avant Hillways, Vision Heights and Shubham Trident received their keys at the event, symbolising the transformational role of the SWAMIH Fund in restoring hope and stability to families impacted by stressed housing developments.

Established in 2019 and managed by SBI Ventures Ltd., a State Bank of India Group company, the SWAMIH Fund is sponsored by the Ministry of Finance. As India’s largest social impact fund for the real estate sector, it addresses critical funding gaps for stressed and brownfield residential projects.

Prem Prabhakar, MD and CEO of SBI Ventures Ltd says: “With the vision and support of the Government of India, this fund has paved the way for the completion of numerous housing projects, ensuring that thousands of families can finally call these homes their own”.

FM Sitharaman, presenting the Budget 2025-2026 in the Parliament this month, highlighted that under the Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH), apart from 50,000 dwelling units already handed over to home-buyers, another 40,000 units will be completed in 2025, helping middle-class families who were paying EMIs on loans taken for apartments, while also paying rent for their current dwellings.

Building on this, SWAMIH Fund 2 has been established as a blended finance facility with contributions from the government, banks and private investors. This fund of Rs 15,000 crore will aim for expeditious completion of another 1 lakh units.

The government has also set up an Urban Challenge Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore to implement the proposals for ‘Cities as Growth Hubs’, ‘Creative Redevelopment of Cities’ and ‘Water and Sanitation’ announced in the July Budget. The fund will finance up to 25% of the cost of bankable projects with a stipulation that at least 50% of the cost is funded from bonds, bank loans, and PPPs.

An allocation of Rs 10,000 crore is proposed for 2025-26. The Budget also proposes a National Geospatial Mission to develop foundational geospatial infrastructure and data. Using PM Gati Shakti, this Mission will facilitate the modernisation of land records, urban planning, and design of infrastructure projects.