The West Bengal Government on Tuesday legalised the sale of leasehold land in the satellite township of Salt Lake on the eastern fringes of the city. The leasehold plots will be made into freehold ones following the payment of a transfer fee of Rs 5 lakh a cottah .

The decision will allow residents to buy and sell residential properties in the area. If things go according to plan, plot holders in Salt Lake will legally monetise their property by paying the government stamp duty, registration fees or some other levy.

The cash-strapped State Government is also expected to earn handsomely from this decision.

The decision was, reportedly, cleared at the State Cabinet Committee meeting here at the Writers' Building. There, however, has been no confirmation about the matter from the State Government.

A senior Cabinet Minister, on condition of anonymity, said the transfer of commercial property got the Government's sanction during the Left Front's rule a few years ago. However, there was no decision on transfer of residential properties till date.

Plots in Salt Lake were leased on a 999-year tenure since the 1970s to enable middle-class people settle down in the township. The terms of the lease maintain that leaseholders will not be able to transfer their plots. According to present rules, residential plots cannot be sold or transferred as the plot holders are actually lease holders and not owners. But later, some problems cropped up. Being a leasehold property, division was not possible among children or multiple legal heirs. Neither could properties be partitioned.

This prompted some to sell out the property, albeit illegally, against huge sums of money. “The Government has been losing revenue for a long time with such illegal deals being brokered. We hope to stop that now,” a Minister said on condition of anonymity.

abhishek.l@thehindu.co.in

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