The government seems to be looking for innovative ways to monetise assets of loss-making Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE), as it is preparing a cabinet note for a policy to utilise land belonging to the government and CPSEs or public sector units (PSU) for building affordable housing projects.

The development comes after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2019-20 said that construction of public infrastructure and affordable housing would be taken up through innovative instruments such as joint development and concession. 

Large public infrastructure can be built on land parcels held by Central ministries and central public sector enterprises all across the country, as per the budget FY20.

"Under the directions of Cabinet Secretariat, the Government Land Information System (GLIS) has been devised and hosted and National Centre of Geo-Informatics (NcOG) portal. The GLIS is an institutional framework having a data bank of all lands available with the Union Government. This is being updated with detail of buildings," said a Finance Ministry note.

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The programme includes the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), whereby the government provides interest subsidy of 6.5 per cent, 4 per cent and 3 per cent on housing loan amounts up to Rs 6 lakh, Rs 9 lakh and Rs 12 lakh, respectively, for beneficiaries belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS) or the lower income group (LIG), middle income group-I (MIG-I) and MIG-II categories.

It also includes the 'In-situ Slum Redevelopment' (ISSR) scheme allowing Central assistance of Rs 1 lakh per house, among other benefits for affordable housing. Another major announcement made in the Union Budget of 2019-20 with a view to support the target of 'housing for all' was a model tenancy law. The government has already come up with the draft model law.