Kerala hikes fare value of land

The state govt is targeting an additional revenue of Rs 500 cr by the way of stamp duties accrued through this measure

The Kerala Cabinet has decided to hike the fair value of land by 50 per cent across the state, part of measures aimed at increasing the state’s revenue.

The state government was targeting an additional revenue of Rs 500 crore by the way of stamp duties accrued through this measure. The minimum price for the registration of land is the fair value fixed by the government.

The Cabinet approved the suggestions submitted by a sub-committee in this regard, said chief minister Oommen Chandy. He said the hike in land registration fee and stamp duty will not be reduced or withdrawn, reacting to reports the today’s Cabinet will consider reduction in rates on account of public protests. Denying them, Chandy said the hike will be effective from today.
 

Earlier, Cabinet decided to raise the registration fee for land deals in the state to one per cent of the fair value of the land. And the government withdrew the maximum ceiling of Rs 25,000 for land registrations.

Employ rubber-modified-bitumen for roads  
In order to extend a helping hand to the struggling more than one-million natural rubber growers in the state, Kerala Cabinet meet today gave in-principle nod to increase the use of rubber-modified-bitumen by the Public Works Department (PWD) for building and repairing roads.

Addressing a press briefing, Chandy said the PWD would order more rubber based-bitumen from Bharat Petroleum Corporation’s Kochi refinery.

Rubber growers are now in doldrums as the price had dropped almost 50 per cent during last three years.

The price of bench mark grade RSS-4 today fell to Rs 122 per kg from Rs 240 in September 2011.

Chandy said Kochi Refinery had been asked to produce more rubber-modified-bitumen for the state’s use.

Cleansing from plastic
All plastic boards across the state would be removed as part of a cleaning drive starting from October 2. Chief minister Chandy said all flex boards depicting ministers will be removed immediately, with ministers leading the drive in each district. The government also decided to bring in a law to “ban and restrict” the use of plastics and flex boards.

“The Cabinet decided to bring in a law to ban and restrict use of flex boards and plastic in the state,” Chandy told reporters after a Cabinet meeting at Thiruvananthapuram.

“We will start by removing flex boards with my pictures and that of other ministers,” he added.

Drive to collect plastic waste
Meanwhile, state minister for Urban Affairs and Minorities Welfare, Manjalamkuzhi Ali said a programme to collect plastic waste from 65 municipalities at Rs 2 per kg will be launched on October 2.

The programme will be inaugurated by the chief minister Chandy. A plan has also been chalked out to collect e-waste at Rs 5 per kg, Ali added.

The Clean Kerala Company will collect the garbage through municipalities. Around 1000 tonnes of plastic waste remains untreated across the state on a daily basis.  

Clean Kerala will hand over the garbage collected from various municipal wards to a private agency. Students, volunteers, social workers, casual labourers and Kudumbashree workers would be part of the initiative.

Ali said plastic waste collection centres would be started in corporations and selected municipalities in the second phase of the project. The first dedicated centre will be launched in Kochi this month.