E-Paper
Pune district administration sends notices to 1,000 firms seeking 15% premium on exempted land
Pune district collector Rajesh Deshmukh says, the notices have been issued to the firms as per the procedure wherein replies of the property holders have been sought. We are taking necessary steps in this regard.
The district administration over the past ten days has sent notices to 1,000 firms (industrial plot holders) in Pune city, demanding that they pay 15% of the transfer fee out of their transactions involving the conversion of commercial land space from industrial to residential purposes. The conversion of land use from industrial to residential purposes is termed as ‘residential zoning’ by the district administration. Initiated under section 20 of the Urban Land Ceiling Act (UCLA), the action sees 15% fee on the transfer transaction.
District collector Rajesh Deshmukh said, “The notices have been issued as per the procedure wherein replies of the property holders have been sought. We are taking necessary steps in this regard.”
The move comes following complaints by civil society members that the conversion of industrial zones into residential zones was deliberately neglected by the former district administration, leading to serious loss of revenue for the state. Civil society members alleged that both the state and revenue department conveniently ignored the issue of conversion of land use.
Meanwhile, officials said that permission for converting land from existing commercial purposes to residential purposes was given by the state government in 1997, according to which it is mandatory to deposit 15% of the transfer fee with the state government. However, property holders did not pay the requisite amount leading to losses worth crores of rupees.
The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (ULC Act) was enacted to prevent concentration of urban properties in the hands of a few, and to ensure equitable distribution-cum-utilisation of vacant urban lands. The ULC Act provided for a ceiling on holding vacant land in urban agglomerations of the state. Accordingly, possession of surplus vacant land was taken over by the ULC authorities as per procedure laid down under the ULC Act.
On applications by landowners holding excess vacant land, the state government granted exemptions under section 20 of the ULC Act, which provided for vacant lands to be utilised for specified purposes and the land holder to implement the terms and conditions of the exemption order. The ULC Act was subsequently repealed by the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1999 (Repeal Act) and the Maharashtra state legislature adopted the Repeal Act on November 28, 2007. A specific category of land exempted for industrial purposes was introduced, wherein it was decided that such lands should be freed from the conditions of the exemption order by charging a onetime premium at the rate of 15% of the current annual scheduled rates for the total exempted land.
