Uttarakhand plans stringent land laws to curb purchases by non-residents

To counter large-scale land acquisition in the hilly areas of Uttarakhand by people from outside the state, the state government is expected to introduce a “stringent land acquisition law” in the upcoming budget session of the assembly.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday.

The state authorities plan to identify non-residents who violated applicable regulations allowing the purchase of only 250 m2 of land for their own use in non-municipal areas.

The Prime Minister announced that the government intends to recover land taken illegally by people who circumvented these regulations.

There have been allegations of a number of cases where buyers have flouted the regulations by purchasing land under the names of relatives or by failing to fulfill their obligations to develop land purchased for commercial use, and have instead “enlarged their personal land bank”.

Currently, non-residents can purchase up to 250 m2 of land outside municipal boundaries for their own use.

For commercial purposes such as tourism, industry, health and education, the BJP government revised the law in 2017, increasing the permissible land limit from 12.5 acres to 30 acres.

“We are starting an investigation to establish the identity of people who bought land on behalf of family members, as well as those who, after purchasing large plots of land, did not fulfill their promise to set up a business. In both cases, all land obtained through dubious means will be taken away,” said Uttarakhand CM Dhami: India times reported.

The Uttarakhand CM further said that the government is working on a new land acquisition law.

“This legislation will examine various issues and stop unwanted transactions taking place in pockets outside urban areas,” he said.

“Improvements were made in 2017, but we did not achieve positive results. Previously, approval for land acquisition was given by the government, but the amendment allowed district judges to approve land acquisition. As a result, people committed to setting up businesses in the tourism, processing, health and education sectors to buy large tracts of land, but did not start working after purchasing it. Our teams will collect these details,” Dhami said.

The Prime Minister noted that the state committee is reviewing land ownership across the state of Uttarakhand. He also assured that legal investors have nothing to worry about.

“We will only take action against those who purchase land for personal gain. Real investors will have no problem. We are committed to supporting progress while curbing illegal practices,” he said.

Restrictions on land purchases for non-residents were first introduced between 2002 and 2007, when the Congress-led government imposed a 500 m2 limit on the purchase of residential land outside municipal boundaries.

The BJP government later reduced this limit to 250 sq m. during his term from 2007 to 2012.

The purchase of agricultural land by people from other countries was also prohibited.

However, in 2017, under then CM Trivendra Singh Rawat, the BJP government removed these restrictions to attract investments, allowing acquisition of up to 30 acres for commercial activities such as tourism and agriculture.

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