The Cabinet sub-committee on resource mobilization has favoured revision of land prices and charges on registration of land and properties across the State.
The committee headed by Minister for Finance T. Harish Rao felt that series of developmental programmes launched by the government had resulted in significant appreciation of land values. Works launched on major irrigation projects resulted in steep hike in values of agricultural lands in the rural areas and infrastructure development resulted in significant appreciation of land values in urban areas.
But there was no change in land values since the formation of the State in 2014 and levy of charges for registration were not commensurate with the increased land values. The committee comprising ministers K.T. Rama Rao and Vemula Prashanth Reddy, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Inspector-General Registration and Stamps Seshadri and other senior officials as members held discussions with the departments concerned over the scope for increasing registration values as part of efforts to mobilise resources.
Officials explained the committee members that there was huge variation in the land prices fixed by the government and the actual market value. As a result, registration of the properties was being recorded as per the government value, but the actual value of the registered land was much higher thereby impacting the government’s revenue.
Though the land prices and rates of registration should be revised periodically in line with the existing Acts, no such steps were initiated in the State so far. Officials cited the example of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in this context where registration values had been revised seven times in the past eight years taking the fee to 7.5 %. Registration fee in Tamil Nadu too was 7.5 % and it was 7 % in Maharashtra.
The sub-committee held elaborate discussions in respect of appreciation of land prices in Hyderabad and HMDA limits. The developmental programmes coupled with the investments made in HMDA limits and expansion of industry led to a boom in real estate activities in the HMDA jurisdiction.
Officials explained to the ministers that over 50 % of the transactions witnessed in the HMDA jurisdiction during 2019-20 were made at prices over and above those fixed by the government. On the other hand, prospective buyers were finding it difficult to secure bank loans because of the variation in the government prices and actual market values. This would necessitate revision of the land values as well as registration fee to ensure that buyers did not encounter such problems.
Taking into account different factors involved in the process, the government had decided to prepare a report on the long-pending revision of land values as well as registration fees soon and submit it to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for his approval.
