Budget 2022 | FM aims for land record digitisation, focuses on urban settlements near transit systems

FM announces that a high-level committee of reputed urban planners, urban economists and institutions will be formed to make recommendations on urban sector policies, capacity building, planning, implementation and governance (PC-Shutterstock)

Aiming at an IT-based land records management, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on February 1 that states will be encouraged to adopt unique land parcel identification number.

The adoption of National Generic Document Registration System is aimed at enabling a uniform process for 'anywhere registration' of deeds and documents.

"The facility for transliteration of land records across any of the Schedule VIII languages will also be rolled out," she added.

Sitharaman also announced that a high-level panel will be set up for urban planning and that institutes will frame policies for sustainable urban development for India @100.

“By the time of India @ 100, nearly half our population is likely to be living in urban areas. To prepare for this, orderly urban development is of critical importance. This will help realise the country’s economic potential, including livelihood opportunities for the demographic dividend. For this, on the one hand we need to nurture megacities and their hinterlands to become current centres of economic growth. On the other hand, we need to facilitate Tier 2 and 3 cities to take on the mantle in the future,” she said in her budget speech.

“This would require us to reimagine our cities as centres of sustainable living with opportunities for all, including women and youth. For this to happen, urban planning cannot continue with a business-as-usual approach. We plan to steer a paradigm change,” Sitharaman added.

The minister also said that, for urban capacity building, support will be provided to states and the following will be modernised: building byelaws, town planning schemes (TPS), and transit-oriented development (TOD).

“This will facilitate reforms for people to live and work closer to mass transit systems,” she added.

The central government’s financial support for mass transit projects and AMRUT scheme will be leveraged for formulation of action plans and their implementation for facilitating TOD and TPS by the states, she said.

For developing India-specific knowledge in urban planning and design, and to deliver certified training in these areas, up to five existing academic institutions in different regions will be designated as centres of excellence. These centres will be provided endowment funds of Rs 250 crore each. In addition, AICTE will take the lead to improve syllabi, quality and access of urban planning courses in other institutions, she announced.

Urban planners and realtors welcomed the announcements.

Additionally, new expenditure announcements were made around the development of Tier 2 and 3 cities with an overhaul of their building laws, development of transit-oriented corridors with an intent to build urban capacity. This will be supported by interest-free loans to state governments and incorporate sustainability as a major intent, explained Radha Dhir, CEO and country head, India, JLL.

The land record digitisation programme will build an integrated land information management system across the country which will facilitate transparent and litigation-free land transfers. This step is expected to provide a big boost for the warehousing and logistics industry, she said.

Commenting on the Centre recognising the importance of urban housing and aiming to increasing the pace of urbanisation, Harshvardhan Patodia, president of CREDAI, said: "In this regard, investment in urban sector capacity building, modernisation of building bye-laws and mass transit projects on hub and spoke model will be executed. The work on National Generic Document Registration System will be accelerated."

Echoing the view, Subhankar Mitra, managing director, advisory services, Colliers India, said on the reforms side the most significant shift is towards city planning.

“Also, since land is mostly a state subject, hence a special interest-free loan for 50 years is offered to the state government that would participate in the reforms process announced by the central government. It is expected to incentivise the state governments to collaborate with the Centre to fast-track reforms,” he said.

The announcement by the government that it will work with the state governments for reduction of time for land and construction approvals and promote affordable housing is laudable, said experts. Easing land and construction approvals will help development firms meet delivery timelines.

"In this light, the establishment of a high-level committee on the urban sector to drive modernisation of building bye-laws, TDR reforms, transit-oriented reforms and sustainable development, including single-window green clearances, will help the sector in the longer run," said Rajan Bandelkar, president, NAREDCO.

Debashish Biswas, partner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, said that the high-level committee for urban planning is a significant step for defining cities considering the future of mobility, work, heath, education and living.

“This committee will be instrumental in defining new age urban planning concepts for Indian cities including evidence-based urban planning,” he said.