Maharashtra govt may dispose of unused land to raise revenue

The debt-ridden Maharashtra government is mulling to dispose of its unused land, whose commercial value is around ₹5,000 crore, after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis set a target of adding ₹12,000 crore to the State exchequer.

Fadnavis recently chaired a meeting to take stock of the State’s financial status and discussed measures to raise additional revenue.

Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Sudhir Kumar Srivastava and other officials were present at the meeting.

According to a senior finance department official, the Chief Minister has set a target of increasing revenue by ₹12,000 crore for the current financial year.

“The Chief Minister has pointed out some sectors through which revenue can be generated. He is in favour of making policies that will increase the use of land for residential and non-agriculture purposes,” the official said.

“A premium for additional Floor Space Index (FSI) if a developer asks for it, premium charges for additional Transferable Development Rights (TDR) and also additional premium for the change of land use from agriculture to residential or commercial purposes were the few suggestions made by the Chief Minister,” he said.

Additional revenue of at least ₹5,000 crore is expected if these measures are implemented, he said. Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said that a change in the class of lease land will also add revenue of around ₹2,000 crore to the State exchequer.

“There are several government-owned land parcels across the State that are allocated to various trusts or people on a lease basis. If we change its classification from lower class to A class, its rent amount will increase and additional revenue can be generated,” the Minister said.

“We are considering disposing of unused government land having scope of development systematically and in a transparent way. We expect that it will add at least ₹5,000 crore to the State exchequer,” he said.

However, Mungantiwar said there is no need to dispose of all government lands.

The State is falling short of over ₹14,000 crore due to various provisions for drought, LBT and exemption from toll to vehicles, he said.

The Chief Minister had in January this year given a special target to road transport, urban development, revenue and housing departments. However, the performance of these four major departments till August end was poor.

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