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Delhi govt hikes circle rates of farm land from Rs 53 lakh to Rs 2.25 -Rs 5 crore per acre
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday announced an increase in the circle rates of agricultural land in the city from Rs 53 lakh per acre to between Rs 2.25 crore and Rs 5 crore per acre, depending on the location.
Increase in circle rates has been a longstanding demand of the farmers. The proposal, Kejriwal said, was approved by the Delhi cabinet on Wednesday and the file has now been sent to the office of Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal.
Currently, all agricultural lands in Delhi are evaluated at a uniform circle rate (Rs 53 lakh per acre). This decision, once approved by the LG, will not only increase the rate but divide the agricultural land in 11 revenue districts in at least four categories depending on the location.
The new proposal would apply to agricultural lands in areas notified as green-belt villages, urban villages and rural villages in Delhi. The minimum circle rate of Rs 2.5 crore per acre would apply in East, North East, Shahdara, South East and Central revenue districts. The highest rate of Rs 5 crore per acre would apply in New Delhi and South Delhi revenue districts, the government said in a statement.
“It is the first revision in 11 years. It was a longstanding demand for farmers of Delhi, who were not getting appropriate dues at the time of acquisition of their land for government projects,” said Kejriwal.
He said, “The enhanced rates reflect more accurate present-day market rates and it would help mitigating distress faced by farmers of Delhi who are adversely affected by low prices offered to them during land acquisition.”
Some senior government officials, however, said a separate notification would be needed for increase in land acquisition rate. “Land acquisition rates would require a separate notification. Though increasing circle rates of agriculture lands could at best indicate a step forward towards increasing land acquisition rates, it does not necessarily imply so on its own,” a senior government official said.
Another official said, “In the past, increase in land acquisition rates have always happened through separate notification. At this stage, this scheme would lead to increased revenue for the government with higher stamp duty, which has a direct correlation with circle rates.”
Currently, in Delhi, the stamp duty is 4% of the circle rate for women and 6% of circle rate for men applicants.