Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech mentioned about idle assets i.e. non-core assets which largely consist of surplus land with Government Ministries/Departments and Public Sector Enterprises (Para 89). The Rural Development Ministry can play a vital role in Identification of surplus government land, Ascertaining the market value of land and Transfer of ownership of land.
Para 89 of the budget speech says “Idle assets will not contribute to AtmaNirbhar Bharat.” The main focus is to identify the non-core assets that largely consist of surplus land with the Government Ministries/Departments/ Public Sector/Undertakings and thereafter adopt the procedure of monetizing of the land with the use of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). This Department can play/support the SPV in three stages as mentioned below.
Stage I – Identification of surplus government land
Department is maintaining and continuously updating land records database of the States/UTs in a comprehensive MIS system. In the MIS, the information with relation to more than 90% villages (5.90 lakhs villages against 6.55 lakhs villages) has been captured on land records. Therefore, the Department can assist the SPV to identify the land which is not used by the concerned Department.
Stage II – Ascertaining the market value of land
In order to monetize the surplus land available with the Government, it would be compulsory that a minimum base price for the value of the land may be ascertained. In future, it is going to be a difficult task for the SPV to ascertain the actual market value of the land scattered across the country. Department can assist the SPV to ascertain minimum base price required for monetizing of the surplus government land.
Stage III – Transfer of ownership of land
In the process of monetizing of the land, subsequently, it is an essential part of the process that ownership of the land should be transferred to the requisitioning entities. Department is also administering Registration Act, 1908, wherein the transfer of the ownership along with registration can be facilitated centrally by this Department using the appropriate provisions of the Act.
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