Nagpur: The Maharashtra government will soon introduce CTS-card-level micro-zoning of Ready Reckoner (RR) rates, a move that the state claims will benefit plot holders by ending the practice of valuing a slum tenement and a luxury high-rise in the same locality at the same rate, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said in Nagpur on Thursday.
Property-by-property survey launched
Bawankule added that a three-phase, property-by-property survey has been launched, beginning with Mumbai, and the implementation is set to roll out in Nagpur within two years. The guardian minister said the work started with the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre (MRSAC) handling the survey.
Example of distorted valuations
Bawankule offered an example of a landmark city hotel as a textbook case for why the existing system was distorting valuations across the city. He said, "Today the situation is such that a 1 km by 1 km growth zone has been created. Whatever rate applies to a building like Centre Point Hotel, the same rate applies to every other property in that zone. The rate applicable to a tall, expensive building applies to the entire area."
New framework for fair rates
Under the new framework, the RR rate for every property will be tied to actual infrastructure and amenities available in its micro-zone, with separate rates for slum dwellings, standalone houses, mid-tier flats, and high-rises within the same locality. He said, "There will be a separate rate for buildings, a separate rate for tall structures, and a separate RR rate for homes of poor citizens."
He said the exercise was being undertaken on the suggestion of Chief Minister Fadnavis, and it addresses a long-pending demand from CREDAI and the public.
Earlier reforms
The Times of India reported in April that the state dropped a proposed RR rate hike of 14% in favor of micro-zoning. Additionally, the government expanded the regularisation limit for unauthorised pre-2011 residential constructions from 500 sqft to 1,500 sqft, cut land survey costs from 10,000 to about 1,000 via new software, decentralised quasi-judicial powers, and set revenue dispute resolution at 90 days and two hearings.
