Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday approved in principle a plan to raise ₹1,500 crore from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), through the Kerala Urban and Rural Development Finance Corporation (KURDFC), to fund the state’s flagship LIFE Mission housing scheme.

The loan, which will carry a government guarantee, is intended to support the construction of 1,27,601 houses currently underway and provide additional assistance to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) families in grama panchayats with high concentrations of beneficiaries, officials said following the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

According to an official release, the borrowing will be raised in two tranches of ₹750 crore each during the 2025–26 and 2026–27 financial years.

Repayment will be spread over 15 years, with the principal recovered from the development funds of local self-government institutions and routed through KURDFC to HUDCO. The state government will meet the annual interest payments through budgetary allocations.

The LIFE Mission aims to provide housing for all landless and homeless families in Kerala, with a focus on uplifting marginalised communities.

Other Cabinet decisions
The Cabinet also approved a cash gift of ₹1,000 each to 52,864 Scheduled Tribe members aged above 60 years as part of the 2025 Onam celebrations. Pensioners from central, state, and semi-government institutions will not be eligible for this benefit. A total of ₹5.29 crore will be disbursed from the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund to cover the expenses.

Additionally, the Cabinet decided to issue guidelines for paying bonuses to employees of state public sector undertakings (PSUs) for the 2024–25 financial year, based on recommendations from the Industries Department and the Planning and Economic Affairs Department.