The Kerala government has decided to proceed with the second phase of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U 2.0), agreeing to conditions that the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had repeatedly opposed. This includes the display of the scheme’s logo on houses built for beneficiaries.
The latest Cabinet decision also brings a financial burden for beneficiaries. Under the revised PMAY-U 2.0 guidelines, beneficiaries are required to bear 25% of the total project cost.
The total assistance for each homeless beneficiary will remain at Rs 4 lakh. Of this, the Union government will contribute Rs 1.5 lakh and the Kerala government Rs 1 lakh. The remaining Rs 1.5 lakh will have to be shared between the municipality and the beneficiary, potentially taking the beneficiary’s contribution up to Rs 1 lakh.
The decision was taken by the Cabinet on August 13, with the government opting to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union government to implement PMAY-U 2.0. The state government has said the MoU is necessary to access around Rs 450 crore in Union government assistance. An estimated 30,000 beneficiaries are expected to receive houses under the scheme.
Chief Minister VD Satheesan said the state would accept the logo requirement as part of the agreement, while making it clear that the Prime Minister’s photograph would not be displayed.
“That is their (union government’s) condition that a logo should be placed outside the house. We won't keep the PM's photo but the logo we should keep,” Satheesan said after the Cabinet meeting.
The LDF government had consistently rejected the requirement to display Union government branding on beneficiaries’ homes.
As of February 2026, around 5,00,364 houses had been completed under the LIFE Mission out of 6,04,046 sanctioned houses, according to official figures.
The issue had been framed by the LDF as one concerning the dignity and ownership of beneficiaries, rather than merely a branding requirement attached to a housing scheme.
In 2023, then Chief Minister and current Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan had rejected the proposal, arguing that housing was a basic human right and should not be turned into an advertisement for the Union government or the Prime Minister.
“These are people’s own houses, and their dignity should not be questioned by placing logos on them,” Pinarayi had said.
The issue resurfaced after Local Self Government Minister KM Shaji recently said the state was not opposed to displaying the PMAY logo on houses. The position drew criticism from the Opposition, following which Shaji issued a clarification a day later, saying the PMAY emblem did not carry Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photograph.
After the LIFE project was launched by the LDF government in 2016, housing assistance in the state was standardised at Rs 4 lakh. The beneficiary contribution prescribed under the original PMAY framework was subsequently done away with in Kerala.
Under the original PMAY arrangement, the Union government provided Rs 1.5 lakh, while the state and local body together contributed Rs 1 lakh and the beneficiary was required to provide Rs 50,000.
Some local bodies also returned amounts collected earlier. The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, for instance, returned the beneficiary share to 1,500 PMAY beneficiaries in 2019.
Under the existing PMAY-Urban LIFE arrangement, the Rs 4 lakh assistance for a homeless beneficiary who owns land comprises Rs 1.5 lakh from the Union government, Rs 50,000 from the state and Rs 2 lakh from the municipality, with no beneficiary contribution.
The Union government’s share under PMAY-U 2.0 remains unchanged at Rs 1.5 lakh. The state will provide Rs 1 lakh, while the municipality and beneficiary together will have to meet the remaining Rs 1.5 lakh.
The Cabinet has decided to begin preparations for the second phase as the first phase is scheduled to end on September 30, 2026. The government estimates that around 30,000 people in Kerala will benefit from the second phase.
While the state has cited the prospect of Rs 450 crore in Union assistance as the reason for proceeding with the MoU, the decision also means accepting two conditions that had been contentious in Kerala: a mandatory beneficiary contribution under the revised guidelines and the display of the PMAY logo on the houses.