People aware of the matter said that affordable housing loans in tier 1 and tier 2 cities and rural areas have seen an increase as banks focus on retail loans in these areas to drive credit growth. The government wants banks to push credit through schemes such as PM Awas Yojana PMAY Housing loans, including priority sector loans, grew 6.4% year-on-year in March, according to the latest data. There is a demand in this segment, which is aided by various central and state government schemes, a senior executive of the state-owned Central Bank of India said on condition of anonymity. Most of the loans are secured by government subsidies, in the range of 3 -- 6%. Under PMAY Urban 11.4 million houses involving central assistance of 1.86 lakh crore have been sanctioned, according to the latest data. Nearly 9.29 million of the sanctioned houses have been grounded for construction - 5.44 million of these have been completed and the remaining are under various stages of construction. Under PMAY Rural 22.9 million houses have been sanctioned. We have been surprised by the growth this segment has seen in the last financial year. The disbursals for PMAY projects were a huge hit for us especially in cities such as Bulandshahr, Alwar, Bhiwani, Agra Ajmer and Ujjain, said Atul Monga, CEO, BASIC Home Loans.