In yet another resource-mobilisation move, the state government plans to sell ‘B’ kharab land (wasteland) within 18km of Bengaluru at double the guidance value.
The cabinet on Tuesday cleared a proposal to amend the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, to enable the government to sell about 12,000 acres of ‘B’ kharab land in Bengaluru Urban and 9,000 acres in Bengaluru, which is expected to fetch around Rs 2,500 crore.
“Whenever the government allots land, that land sometimes contains kharab land, for which the government would not have recovered the cost. In Bengaluru, land prices have shot up so much that this land, too, fetches good value for realtors. Therefore, the state will recover cost from them to legalise it in their favour. Most kharab land is used to build housing or commercial complexes,” said law minister JC Madhuswamy after the meeting.
“When the deputy commissioner of a district approves conversion of land from agriculture to non-agriculture purpose, he will give sanction except for kharab land. None of the major developers shows this and uses the land for the project,” said a senior government official, saying regularization, if done efficiently, will earn thousands of crores of rupees in revenue.
As per survey records of 1906, ‘B’ kharab land is classified as Bandi dari (bullock cart roads), Kalu Dari (foot walks), Halla (small tanks).
