Union Budget 2024 | Centre to help states to speedily assign unique ‘Bhu Aadhaar’ ID to land parcels

New Delhi: The Centre is keen to provide financial support to the state governments for expeditiously implementing the ‘Bhu Aadhaar’ scheme for assigning a unique identification number for all land parcels across the country – a move, which is expected to help mitigate the long pendency of court cases over property disputes.

Presenting the Union Budget for the 2024-25 financial year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday told the Lok Sabha that the Centre would incentivise the completion of the land reforms by the state governments within the next three years. Assigning the Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) or ‘Bhu-Aadhaar’ to every parcel of land is one of the actions the Union Government wants the states to speed up, she said.

The ‘Bhu Aadhaar’, according to the government, is likely to help deal with the growing menace of land-grabbing and other fraudulent activities, including owning ‘benami’ properties.

“Land-related reforms and actions, both in rural and urban areas, will cover land administration, planning, and management, and urban planning, usage, and building bylaws,” Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha. “These will be incentivized for completion within the next 3 years through appropriate fiscal support.”

The Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) is part of the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP) of the government. The 14-digit identification number accorded to a land parcel is based on its longitude and latitude coordinates and depends on detailed surveys and geo-referenced cadastral maps.

The ULPIN is generated using the Electronic Commerce Code Management Association (ECCMA) standards during the importing of the geo-referenced shape file into BhuNaksha, a cadastral mapping solution of the National Informatics Centre. It is going to be a single, authoritative source of truth for information on any parcel of land or property to provide integrated land services to the citizens as well as all stakeholders, according to the NIC.

A government official told DH that the ‘Bhu-Aadhaar’ or the ULPIN project being implemented by the Department of Land Resources of the Ministry of Rural Development would create the world’s largest database on land ownership.

The digitisation of cadastral maps, the survey of map sub-divisions as per current ownership, the establishment of a land registry, and linking it to the registry of farmers are the other measures the Union Government wants the states to expedite. “These actions will also facilitate credit flow and other agricultural services,” said the finance minister.

She said that the land records in urban areas would be digitised with GIS mapping. An IT-based system for property record administration, updating, and tax administration would be established. These will also facilitate improving the financial position of urban local bodies, added Sitharaman.

The government is of the view that once the digitisation process of land records and registration is complete, it will help mitigate the huge pendency of court cases involving land disputes. The GDP loss to the country’s economy is at present estimated at 1.3 per cent due to projects being stalled over litigation involving land disputes, while 66 per cent of all civil suits in the country are related to land or property disputes, and the average pendency of a land acquisition dispute is 20 years.

Andhra Pradesh was the first state to complete 100 per cent ULPIN coverage with over 60 million land parcels being assigned ULPINs or Bhu-Aadhaars. The other best-performing states include Karnataka, Odisha, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, which achieved 60 per cent-90 per cent ULPIN coverage.

Union Budget 2024 LIVE | Making a record for any Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman presented her 7th consecutive Union Budget on July 23, 2024 under the Modi 3.0 government. This Budget brought tax relief for the middle class, while focusing on jobs through skilling, incentivising employers. Track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analysis only on Deccan Herald. Also follow us on WhatsApp, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.