RAY Rajiv Awas Yojana Scheme 2026: Eligibility, Benefits and Latest Updates

The Rajiv Awas Yojana program was launched in June 2011 and was implemented in two phases. It was designed with the objective of making India a completely slum-free country in the near future. It is a part of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUA). It is an integrated area-based program.

RAY, also known as the Rajiv Awas Yojana, was to be completed in two phases:

• The preparatory phase started in 2011 and ended in 2013.
• The implementation phase involved formulating schemes for slum areas. It commenced in 2013, following which the Central Government approved this implementation plan for the period spanning from 2013 to 2022.

RAY Replaced By PMAY-U

In 2015, the Central Government decided to discontinue RAY and integrate it into a larger scheme known as the ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban’ (PMAY-U). The PMAY-U scheme essentially took the earlier concepts of housing—which were primarily focused on slums—and transformed them into a massive ‘Housing for All’ program that covers almost every city in our country.

The good news is that if there was an initiative in your locality that was launched under the erstwhile RAY scheme but was never completed, it has not been left unfinished. These housing units have been transferred to the PMAY-U program. The latest update from the Ministry indicates that they have extended the deadline for completing these units until September 2026. Their objective is to ensure that by the time this deadline arrives, the final few thousand families also receive the keys to their homes.

Here is what’s happening on the ground right now:

• PMAY-U 2.0 is the world’s newest and largest initiative: The government has recently launched the second phase of PMAY-U 2.0 to provide housing to an additional 10 million families.
• No more bureaucratic paperwork hassles: There is no longer any need to run from one office to another—a burden that beneficiaries under the RAY scheme previously had to endure. Everything is now available online. It is extremely easy to enter your Aadhaar number on the portal and track the status of your application.

If you are looking to purchase an affordable home, stop inquiring about applications for RAY. These are no longer available. Your best option is to visit the PMAY-U website for the latest updates, or visit your local municipal corporation office to find out if you are eligible for its new Phase 2.0.

Rajiv Awas Yojana Scheme RAY: Quick Facts

Here are some quick facts about Rajiv Awas Yojana Scheme:-

Particulars	Details
Name of the scheme	Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY)
Mission of Rajiv Awas Yojana Scheme	Bringing all existing slums within the formal system and enabling them toOffer basic amenities to the rural areasRedressing the failures of current formal system
Objectives of Rajiv Awas Yojana Scheme	provide basic guidance for housing, civic facilities, and social amenitiesincrease the employability and income potential of the slum dwellersCapacity building and resource utilisation
Vision of Rajiv Awas Yojana	The vision of the scheme is to make India slum free
Eligibility criteria of Rajiv Awas Yojana	Category A, B and C people are eligible for Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana
Credit Scheme Under Rajiv Awas Yojana	Rajiv Rinn YojanaCredit Risk Guarantee Fund
Contact details of Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana	23063495, 23061162, 23061166, 23062089 (Fax),[email protected]

Objectives of Rajiv Awas Yojana Scheme

The Rajiv Awas Yojana was launched with the objective of providing basic, yet high-quality, living conditions in selected slum areas. The goal of the Rajiv Awas Yojana can be described as follows.

• The Rajiv Awas Yojana covers every slum area, regardless of whether it is officially registered with the government or not. Furthermore, this Rajiv Awas Yojana program endeavours to provide a foundational framework regarding municipal amenities, housing, and social infrastructure. The objective of the RAY program is to transform slums into permanent housing or habitable living spaces. This process is referred to as “in-situ” slum rehabilitation.
• The Rajiv Awas Yojana program will provide essential municipal services, such as potable water supply, street lighting, roads, sewerage systems, and electricity facilities.
• The Rajiv Awas Yojana is also designed to enhance the employment and income prospects of slum dwellers by improving their vocational skills, while simultaneously upgrading the sanitary conditions and overall living environment predominantly found within and around slum settlements.
• To facilitate easier access to credit facilities for the populace, the Rajiv Awas Yojana is structured to foster a secure community for its residents by facilitating various forms of micro-credit and loans through nationalized financial institutions and banks.
• Capacity building and the efficient utilization of resources constitute the primary goals of the Rajiv Awas Yojana. Its aim is to foster development with the assistance of the appropriate municipal authorities or corporations.
• The Rajiv Awas Yojana program will empower the slum-dwelling community and ensure their active integration into the social fabric. This initiative will contribute to mitigating the social isolation experienced by slum dwellers.
• The government’s objective is to strengthen the community through various community-based projects and capacity-building initiatives. Additionally, the program extends its support to organizations formed by the slum dwellers themselves.
• The coordinated implementation of activities under the RAY scheme will contribute significantly to the comprehensive eradication of slums and the effective rehabilitation of their inhabitants.

What is the aim of the Rajiv Awas Yojana Scheme

The main aim of the project is to provide pucca houses to slum dwellers. You can download the official Rajiv Awas Yojana Scheme pdf here. This provides all details of the scheme.

Rajiv Awas Yojana: Selection Criteria for the Slums

The Rajiv Awas Yojana is an ideal scheme for all cities and urban clusters. It is expected that the Central Government, in consultation with state-level officials, will facilitate its implementation. Cities and urban clusters will be selected based on the following criteria.

• The Rajiv Awas Yojana covers every slum area, regardless of whether it is officially registered or not. Furthermore, this Rajiv Awas Yojana program endeavors to provide an infrastructure framework for municipal amenities, housing, and social infrastructure. The objective of the RAY program is to transform slums into permanent housing or habitable living spaces. This process is referred to as “in-situ” slum rehabilitation.
• The Rajiv Awas Yojana program will provide essential municipal services, such as drinking water supply, street lighting, roads, sewerage systems, and electricity facilities.
• The Rajiv Awas Yojana is also designed to enhance employment and income opportunities for slum dwellers, thereby improving their vocational skills; concurrently, it aims to improve the sanitary conditions and the overall living environment found within and around slum settlements.
• To facilitate easy access to credit facilities for the people, the Rajiv Awas Yojana has been structured to foster a secure community for its residents by providing various types of micro-credit and loan facilities through nationalized financial institutions and banks.
• Capacity building and the efficient utilization of resources are the primary goals of the Rajiv Awas Yojana. Its objective is to promote development with the assistance of appropriate municipal authorities or corporations.
• The Rajiv Awas Yojana program will empower the slum-dwelling community and ensure their active integration into the social fabric. This initiative will contribute to mitigating the social exclusion experienced by slum dwellers.
• The government aims to strengthen the community through various community-based projects and capacity-building initiatives. Furthermore, this program also extends its support to organizations that have been established by the slum dwellers themselves. The coordinated implementation of activities under the RAY scheme will contribute significantly to the complete eradication of slums and the effective rehabilitation of their residents.

The collaboration of activities under the RAY scheme will contribute to the eventual removal of slums, and the rehabilitation of slum-dwellers.

Pattern Of Funding – The Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) scheme

The Central Government has devised a specific funding pattern for the Rajiv Awas Yojana. For cities with a population exceeding 500,000, the upper funding limit per dwelling unit has been fixed at ₹500,000.

If a city is smaller—that is, its total population is less than 500,000—this amount will be ₹400,000 per dwelling unit.

For all states in the North-Eastern Region, as well as those designated under the ‘Special Category’, the upper funding limit has been fixed at ₹500,000, irrespective of population size.

Category	Urban Pockets (As Per 2011 Census)	Category	Contribution of Governments
A	Cities With population of 5 Lakh and Above	Housing	Central Govt	State Govt	Local Bodies	Beneficiaries
			50	25	–	25
		Infrastructure	50	25	25	0
B	Cities With population of below 5 Lakh	Housing	75	15	–	10
		Infrastructure	75	15	10	0
C	Cities in North East and Special Category States	Housing	80	10	–	10
		Infrastructure	80	10	10	0

In accordance with the prevailing guidelines and social amenities in the region, the upper limit will be based on the cost of civic infrastructure. The cost of this infrastructure shall not exceed 25% of the total cost per Dwelling Unit (DU).

It is expected that the Central Government will not include land costs in this calculation. For beneficiaries belonging to SC/ST or OBC categories, as well as for women, the beneficiary contribution will be a minimum of 10 percent. For the general public, the beneficiary contribution will be 12%.

Eligibility For Rajiv Awas Yojana Scheme

There are certain specific conditions for eligibility under the Rajiv Awas Yojana. To be considered under this scheme, the presence of at least 250 residential units is mandatory. There are no specific sub-categories within this scheme; however, certain distinct categories are permitted. This depends on the manner in which funding is made available by the government. Generally, this scheme can be classified into three distinct types: Categories A, B, and C. Furthermore, these can also be regarded as the requisite conditions for eligibility.

• Category A This allows people residing in urban areas with an estimated population of 500,000 or more to receive an amount of up to 500,000 rupees.
• Category B This provides assistance to residents of urban areas whose income is less than ₹5 lakh. They will be provided with a maximum amount of ₹4 lakh.
• Category C Individuals hailing from states classified under the ‘Special’ category (namely Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu & Kashmir), as well as those from the states of India’s North-Eastern region, will receive a fixed amount of ₹5 lakh.

Under this scheme, renting is permitted. Thus, this scheme does not deprive any eligible individual of their rights. They can relocate from slum areas to better housing.

Rajiv Awas Yojana Scheme: Activities and Scope

The activities listed below fall under the Rajiv Awas Yojana.

• To create an ‘enclave-free’ city, implementing agencies under the Rajiv Awas Yojana will undertake tasks related to surveys, data entry, GIS monitoring, and MIS.
• At the state level, the allocation of funds will be overseen by either the State Government or the Central Government. The funding ratio will be on a matching basis with the Central Government, with the exception of North-Eastern states and ‘Special Category’ states.
• For city-level technical cells, the cost-sharing ratio between the State and the Centre will be 50:50, or in certain cases, 75:25. For North-Eastern states and ‘Special Category’ states, this ratio will be 80:20 under the Rajiv Awas Yojana.
• The task of preparing detailed reports will be entrusted to a team of expert consultants; however, internal teams will also assist them in this endeavor.
• Furthermore, a third-party monitoring agency will be appointed to track the progress of the Rajiv Awas Yojana.
• States and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) are expected to adhere to the guidelines regarding the procurement of necessary services for the Rajiv Awas Yojana.

Contact Details for Rajiv Awas Yojana Scheme

To obtain more information about the Rajiv Awas Yojana, visit the official website of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and navigate to the ‘Contact Us’ section. Select the drop-down menu that displays the ‘Telephone Directory’.

The contact numbers for the officials in question are listed here. Thus, you are able to dial the appropriate numbers for any issue.

Frequently Asked Questions