The spectre of a revision in the market value of lands is looming large as it has been the practice to make changes once in two years in the villages and every year in cities and towns. The Registration and Stamps Department is expected to increase the values in both rural and urban areas this year but obviously by a different measure.
The market grapevine is that the increase could be between 10% and 50%. The values in cities and towns were increased by up to 30% last year which fetched just under ₹1,000 crore. The registration rates were not enhanced at that time.
The market value revision is seen as an essential means to garner additional revenue as the cash-strapped government is looking for a steady stream of money that will replenish the coffers to some extent.
Inspector General (Registration and Stamps) M.V. Seshagiri Babu tells The Hindu that a decision has not yet been taken by the government. It is indeed a procedure to do a periodic revision of the market values, he says, without further elaborating on it before the government makes a likely announcement to that effect.
Officials say the policy of revising land values at regular intervals is intended to reconcile the yawning gap between prevailing market values and low registration values, which tend to deprive the government of revenue that accrues through a rationalised system.
Index of lands
Now, in order to streamline the mechanism, the government has prepared a detailed index of lands with the help of advanced technological tools that enable it to have a better idea of the nature of lands and the types of usage which determine their market values. The revision will achieve the much-needed correction in values. The market values of lands are normally revised in August.
Realtors and buyers, however, are opposing the hike on the ground that it will entail a huge burden on them. Keeping their hardship in view, they say, the government should refrain from tweaking the values in these tough times.
The revenue on account of registration charges plummeted during the COVID-19 crisis, and needless to say, the government is scouting for more money to flow into its treasury and an increase in land values is said to be given a serious thought.
