Land acquisition process to ease in urban areas of Rajasthan

Land acquisition process would smoothen in urban areas of Rajasthan resulting in lower project cost following passage of a new law on property titles by the state government, according to India Ratings.
"The Rajasthan Urban Land (Certification of Titles) Act, 2016, passed by the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly this month, will significantly smoothen the land acquisition process in urban areas," India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said.
Rajasthan is the first state in India to enact a law on property titles, where the state will stand as a guarantor for land titles and provide compensation in case of issues of defective title, it added.

"The adoption of similar laws by other states can meaningfully shorten the time taken for acquisition of urban land for infrastructure creation by public bodies or for real estate development by private players and bring down overall project cost," Ind-Ra said.
The Act provides for the state government to stand as a guarantor for the permanent certificate of title issued for urban land by the Certification Authority after perusal of documents.
It also provides for compensation to any person who enters into a transaction on the basis of a permanent certificate of title, in case the title later turns out to be defective.

"These provisions will lead to clarity in land titles and will reduce legal challenges, thus reducing the effective cost of land and shortening execution timelines," the agency said.
Under the Act, Ind-RA said, the state government would set up an Urban Land Title Certification Authority, which will seek all the documents from the landowners, and will verify it against the records held by the state.
The authority will then issue a provisional certificate of title for a period of two years without guarantee and follow it up with a permanent certificate of title to which the government shall stand guarantor.