New Maharashtra policy to expedite transfer of govt land gets nod

Mumbai: The Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday approved a new policy under which the government land needed for a public project can be handed over to the agency which is executing the project `in advance' to cut the delays.

The decision was taken in the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis here.

Many times transfer of government land from respective district or civic authorities gets stuck in red tape, resulting in delay in commencement of project. Sometimes the funds sanctioned for the project in the budget remain unused because land is not made available, a government official said.

The cabinet's decision today will accelerate this process of transfer of government land for the projects which are in the public interest, the official said.

The cabinet also approved revised expenditure estimate of Rs 2,081 crore for a new 250 MW thermal power unit at Parali. Besides, Rs 2,146.59 crore were sanctioned to upgrade three units of Koradi thermal power plant near Nagpur.

In another decision, the cabinet gave approval for calculation of property tax based on data collected through the Geographic Information System (GIS) technology.

The cabinet also gave a go-ahead to set up 3,165 talathi (village revenue official) offices and 528 new mandal offices.

It also decided to reduce the minimum amount of stamp duty that can be paid through E-SBTR (secure bank and treasury receipt) from the existing Rs 5,000 to Rs 100.