Land ceiling act will go in winter session, says CM

MUMBAI: The state government is set to repeal the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976.

At an all-party meeting in Mantralaya on Thursday, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said his government would make provisions to repeal the act in the winter session of the legislature starting in Nagpur in December.

The meeting, convened to gather consensus from all parties, was attended by Madhukar Sarpotdar of the Sena, Gurunath Kulkarni of Nationalist Congress Party, and Vasant Shiravi of Peasants and Workers Party, among others.

Under the conditions put forth by the Centre to sanction funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, the ULCRA has to be repealed. This will open up 500 hectares of land in the state.

The Shiv Sena and Left parties have, however, opposed the scrapping and announced a campaign against it starting today.

Deepak Parekh, chairman of the Housing Development Finance Corporation, said, “I am happy that the state is heeding what the Prime Minister has repeatedly said and is seriously considering scrapping the ULC. The legislation has failed in its implementation as it has only choked supply of land and, in turn, affected property prices. The government has to make reforms for it is a pre-condition to availing funds from the World Bank and the Centre for numerous infrastructure projects in the city.”

Officials from the state urban development department claimed that real estate prices in Mumbai would crash by as much as 40 per cent once the act is abolished.