Patna: Purchasing land and houses in Bihar has become more expensive with the state government on Thursday increasing registration rates for land and properties in rural and urban areas. Under the revised minimum value register (MVR), or circle rates, rural land rates have been increased by 60%, while urban rates have been doubled.
The prohibition, excise and registration department issued a notification on Thursday and the revised rates have come into effect immediately. The government has also introduced an automatic annual increase of 5% in MVR rates.
The last revision of MVR rates was carried out in 2013 for rural areas and in 2016 for urban areas. The department will now undertake a comprehensive review every three years, taking into account factors such as new roads, industrial zones, urban expansion and major infrastructure projects, including airports, railways, industrial parks and irrigation schemes.
The revised rates are expected to benefit farmers through higher compensation for land acquisition. Women will also receive enhanced concessions on property registration. For land or property registered in a woman’s name through a sale deed or gift deed, the concession on stamp duty has been increased from 0.3% to 0.4%, while the 0.1% concession on registration fees remains unchanged. This raises the total concession available to women to 0.5%. The general stamp duty rate has also been increased by 1%.
“This influx of funds is expected to improve the economic condition of the state’s farmers and citizens while accelerating the state’s economic development. Consequently, farmers will receive a total of Rs 14,831 crore in additional compensation under the revised rates,” a government press note stated.
According to the government, compensation payable for land acquired for state projects will increase from Rs 14,897 crore to Rs 18,637 crore, resulting in an additional Rs 3,740 crore for landowners. For central government projects, compensation is projected to rise from Rs 24,629 crore to Rs 39,460 crore under the revised rates.
The government has also standardised land classifications across the state. Seven categories have been defined for rural and peripheral areas, while six categories have been notified for urban and metropolitan areas.
