Govt to soon launch SWAMIH-2 fund to complete 1 lakh homes in stalled projects

New Delhi, Dec 25 (PTI)) The government is finalising the contours of SWAMIH-2 Fund and is expected to soon operationalise the fund with a view to providing last-mile financing for the completion of stalled housing projects, according to sources.

The launch of the Rs 15,000-crore fund would provide relief to nearly one lakh middle-class homebuyers, whose investments are stuck despite paying their EMI (equated monthly instalments) on loans taken for apartments.

For this purpose, the government has already earmarked Rs 1,500 crore as a seed capital for the Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH) Fund in the Budget 2025-26.

Mandates for the new fund are being finalized, and soon, clearance would be granted, sources said, adding that it would provide last-mile funding for commercially viable projects and unlock investment in stalled residential projects.

In November 2019, the Centre announced a stress fund named SWAMIH, to complete stalled housing projects across India. A 'Special Window' in the form of an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) was created to provide priority debt financing for the completion of stalled housing projects. SBI Ventures was assigned the role of Investment Manager for this special window.

The Sponsor of the Fund is the Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

Under the SWAMIH Fund-1, over 55,000 dwelling units in stressed housing projects have been completed, and it aims to deliver another 30,000 homes over the next 3-4 years.

Currently, the Fund has about 30 investment professionals, with an average of 15 years of industry experience.

Under the SWAMIH Fund-1, Rs 15,530 crore has been raised so far with an aim to provide priority debt financing for the completion of stressed, brownfield and Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) registered residential projects that fall in the affordable, mid-income housing category.

Since the fund considers first-time developers, established developers with troubled projects, developers with a poor track record of stalled projects, customer complaints and NPA accounts, and even projects where there are litigation issues, it is considered as the lender of last resort for distressed projects.

A study, by data analytic firm PropEquity commissioned by SBI Ventures Ltd in 2019, estimated that about 1,500 projects with 4.58 lakh housing units were stalled/stressed and required aggregate funding of Rs 55,000 crore to complete the stalled projects. PTI DP DRR