In a bid to bring agricultural land under the ambit of circle rate, the Arvind Kejriwal Government has proposed circle rate for agricultural land in the national Capital. The existing circle rate— the minimum rate at which a property can be registered- of Rs 53 lakh per acre is much lower than the market value.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday announced in the Budget proposal presented in the Delhi Assembly for the year 2015-16. The circle rate was last revised in September, 2014.
“The Government has decided to fulfil the long-pending demand of our farmers to increase the circle rate which is taken as benchmark for land acquisition purpose. The current circle rate for agricultural land was determined in March 2008 and it is time that the Government accepts the reality of the market and acknowledges the rights of our farmers,” Sisodia said.
Circle rates are the minimum area-wise property prices set by the Government to register a property. But, the Government often loses money from registration fees and stamp duties that are not paid because a major part of transactions in real estate are often done in cash or black money. This means the actual value of a sold property is much higher than shown officially.
The reason why circle rates were never revised after 2008 lies in the fact that no one ever bothered to push for a revision as this helped keep the compensation rates low in case of land acquisition for development projects. The circle rate forms the basis of fixing the compensation amount for acquired land.
According to the 2008 notification, the circle rate for normal agricultural land was Rs 53 lakh per acre and for riverbed land between forward bunds was Rs 17.60 lakh per acre. “On the ground, the same land is pitched at a much higher market value. An acre of normal agricultural land is selling for anywhere between Rs 1crore and Rs 3 crore. Hence the need for a revision in rates. Based on all these factors, the proposed revision has been kept between Rs 1 crore and Rs 1.5 crore,” said a revenue department official.