Committee Advises Land Registration Rates' Revision

A Cabinet sub-committee constituted to address the challenges of revenue mobilisation in Telangana today recommended that the KCR government revise the land and property registration rates in the state.

The sub-committee, which met at the MCRHRD Centre under the chairmanship of Finance Minister T Harish Rao, convened the meeting that was attended by members including ministers K T Rama Rao and V Prashant Reddy, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Stamps And Registration Department IG, advisor to government (finance) G R Reddy, and the heads of various government departments.

The committee reportedly discussed the possibility of the revision of the land rates, including those of agricultural lands.

The officials present brought up the issue of the steep increases in land rates in the private market that had occurred over the last seven years, which they attributed to the rapid development witnessed by the state in every sector, and the implementation of various development programs. They also discussed this price increase in land rates in rural areas which they claimed was the result of the construction of various irrigation projects that had been undertaken since 2014.

The committee then pointed out that the state government had not revised the land rates in Telangana despite its rapid development and told the ministers that several people were registering their properties at the existing government rates which burdened the original landowners significantly as they had spent huge sums to buy valuable properties. Therefore, the need to revise land registration rates at regular intervals was an urgent one, they noted while adding that the land rates had been adjusted eight times in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

The committee members then unanimously decided to submit a report to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao urging him to approve the revision of the rates after consultations with various stakeholders.