The Hindu 29.01.2014
BBMP unlocks Rs. 200 cr. from land use conversion applicants
The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council on
Tuesday approved collection of betterment charges from owners of
revenue properties that have been used for non-agriculture purposes.
According to the resolution passed by the council, property owners whose
land has been converted and those whose properties have been denotified
by the Bangalore Development Authority, Karnataka Industrial Area
Development Board, Karnataka Housing Board and other government agencies
may also pay the betterment charge and get ‘A’ khata if it is converted
for non-agricultural purposes.
The move comes as a
major relief to such property owners, as they can get not just an ‘A’
khata, but also building plan approval from the BBMP.
The
charge has been linked to expenditure incurred on providing basic
amenities, sources said. The civic body has fixed the betterment charge
at Rs. 350 per square metre (sqm) for properties measuring up to 1,000
sqm. For the rest, the amount is Rs. 300 per sqm.
Sources
in the BBMP’s revenue department said that the civic body expects to
net Rs. 200 crore from people who have already got the pattern of land
use converted to non-agriculture purpose. Property owners may choose to
pay the one-time betterment charge in four instalments, but will incur
interest of 1.5 per cent per month.
It may be
recalled that the BBMP had earlier fixed the charges in different slabs.
But the move was challenged in the High Court by citizens. The court
directed the BBMP to constitute a committee to fix a uniform fee
scientifically. When the uniform fee fixed by the committee was deemed
to be too high, the court directed the committee to fix betterment
charges commensurate with the expenditure incurred on providing basic
amenities.
Fixes
fee for using revenue properties for non-agriculture purposes and paves
way for land owners to secure building plan approval.
