Govt to sell 5,000 plots in Mumbai to leaseholders WHAT THIS MEANS

Leaseholders of some 5,000 government plots across Mumbai will now be able to buy them permanently. They will also have the right to use the land for any purpose, residential or commercial.

The decision taken at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday means housing societies built on such plots can buy the land from the government for a premium that is yet to be decided.

“By this, the government is opening up for development land that had been locked in for decades,” said revenue minister Eknath Khadse. Some one lakh plots across the state will come under this scheme.

However, plots allotted to hospitals, sports complexes, educational institutions and gymkhanas will not be covered by this decision.

Khadse told reporters that this was done to ensure the public got the benefit of the government’s largesse. For example, hospitals that get government plots have to reserve 10% of the beds for the poor. But if the hospital managements got full ownership, they may not continue to provide this facility to the needy, he said explaining the rationale for the decision.

Mumbaikars allotted land for residential and commercial use on leasehold and occupancy class II (conditional ownership right) will benefit.

The government asked a committee headed by the principal secretary in the revenue department to submit a report on the modalities in two months. Now, plots allotted on lease can be used only for the activities permitted by the government. The lessee pays annual rent for a fixed period.

In 2012, the state government introduced a policy under which land on lease hold was allowed to be converted to ownership right (occupancy class II) by charging a premium. Restrictions on the use of the land remained the same as for leasehold.

The decision was challenged in the Bombay high court and is still pending.