Families in Telangana who have long been priced out of Hyderabad's real estate market are getting a rare shot at owning a home without taking on a massive loan. The state government rolled out a new housing scheme on Tuesday called the Indiramma Indlu Housing Scheme, under which eligible families can secure a flat by contributing just Rs 6 lakh, at a time when comparable flats in the open market cost anywhere between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore or more.
What the Indiramma Indlu Housing Scheme offers
The scheme targets economically weaker families living within Hyderabad and the Outer Ring Road, or ORR, area. Telangana plans to build a total of 1 lakh affordable flats across the Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri municipal corporation zones in a phased rollout. The first phase alone will deliver 7,680 flats under the Low Income Group, or LIG, category. What makes the scheme stand out is the funding structure: the government will chip in a subsidy of Rs 5 lakh per flat and provide the land at no cost, leaving beneficiaries to pay only Rs 6 lakh out of pocket.
Who qualifies for the scheme
Not every applicant will be eligible. To qualify, an applicant must have lived in the CURE, or Core Urban Region Economy, area for the past 10 years. They must also not own any house, flat or plot in their name anywhere within the ORR. The applicant's family income must be Rs 6 lakh a year or less, and only one application will be accepted per family, a rule designed to spread the benefit across as many needy households as possible.
Application window and selection process
Applications can be submitted between July 23 and August 10. If an applicant is allotted a flat, the amount deposited at the time of application will be adjusted against their total contribution. If the application is unsuccessful, the entire deposit will be refunded. Should the number of applications exceed the number of available flats, beneficiaries will be selected through a transparent lottery system, but only after every applicant's documents are scrutinised and put through a 360 degree verification process.
The payment schedule, step by step
The government has laid out a staggered payment plan so beneficiaries are not hit with the full cost at once. Applicants must pay a Rs 100 fee along with an EMD of Rs 10,000 at the time of application. Once the provisional allotment comes through, Rs 1 lakh becomes payable. A further Rs 2 lakh is due once the flat's RCC structure is completed, and another Rs 2 lakh is payable at the finishing stage. Whatever remains has to be cleared before the beneficiary takes possession of the flat.
Reservation for social categories and women
The scheme also builds in social reservation. A total of 50 percent of flats are set aside for the designated categories, and within every category, 30 percent of flats are further reserved specifically for women.
No selling or renting out for 10 years
Beneficiaries will not be allowed to sell or rent out their allotted flat for the next 10 years, the government has clarified. However, the flat can still be mortgaged with a bank if the owner needs to take out a home loan.
What comes next
Telangana's broader goal is to build 1 lakh affordable homes in Hyderabad and the urban areas around it. The first phase will cover 16 assembly constituencies with 7,680 flats, and the scheme will later be expanded to cover 26 assembly constituencies in total. The government says the initiative is expected to help thousands of economically weaker families realise their dream of owning a home, and that it marks a significant step toward making Telangana a slum-free state.
