Budget 2024: Urban, rural land reforms ‘welcome move’ by government

The 2024-2025 Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promised a few reforms related to land and land use in the country ranging from their identification to planning and potentially drawing from multiple domains. Ms. Sitharaman said “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”. These will also facilitate improving the financial position of urban local bodies.” Ms. Sitharaman also said that on the back of a successful pilot project, the Indian government “in partnership with States will facilitate the implementation of the Digital Public Infrastructure in agriculture for coverage of farmers and their lands in 3 years.” This programme will include a “digital survey” of the kharif crop in 400 districts and the land details being brought into a “land registry”. “It also points towards a recognition that States are the key actors on these issues, and that approaches and constraints can vary across States.” Overall better land registries and cadastral maps are key to understanding land-use around the country, to enforce building codes, and to evaluate the risks due to various hazards, including natural disasters. The Minister’s statement “recognises the need for an integrated overview of land administration and land/property record modernisation, building from existing efforts so far,” Ms. Jha further said, adding: “This encompasses rural and urban elements, while attempting to not get locked into the traditional urban-rural binary.” “The stress on digital mapping of land records and the stress on housing will provide good opportunities for downstream companies to use space technologies for these activities,” Arup Dasgupta, managing editor at Geospatial World, said.