Maharashtra Cabinet gives green light to conversion of over one lakh acres of class II land in Marathwada to vacant possession

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to convert over one lakh acres of Class-II land in the state’s Marathwada region into freehold, making the residents full owners.

Nearly 1.4 lakh hectares of land in Marathwada, spread across eight districts, has been classified as Class II, a government official said.

The Class II status posed an obstacle to residents wanting to develop these areas, he said.

Class II occupancy is a conditional possession in which land is given to individuals for various reasons, including as a reward and to religious structures for their maintenance. The demand to convert the land to freehold is almost 60 years old, he said.

The Cabinet’s decision to convert this land into freehold will have a positive impact on the current residents, the official said, adding that the residents will have to pay a certain amount to the state government to effect the transfer.

The eight districts of Marathwada have 42,710.31 hectares of land designated as ‘Khidmatmash’ (given for the maintenance of religious places) and 13,803.13 hectares of ‘Madatmash’ land (given as grant).

At the time of formation of Maharashtra in 1960, when the Marathwada region became part of the state, carved out of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad, these prices were abolished. The state took control of these lands.

The government imposed restrictions on the land’s residents over its transfer and use, and the issue remained unresolved for nearly 60 years, an official said.

The Maharashtra government said in a statement that the Hyderabad Atiyat Enquiries Act, 1952 and the Hyderabad Abolition of Inams and Cash Grants Act, 1954 would be amended to convert the currently classified Class II land into freehold. The state government has decided to charge only five per cent of the actual value of the land as per the ready reckoner rates.

The decision is based on a committee report headed by senior IAS officer Avinash Pathak, the statement said.

The Cabinet has also approved a revised budget of Rs 36,964 crore for the construction of 6,000 km of concrete roads. Earlier, the approvals for asphalt roads were estimated at Rs 28,500 crore, but after the revision, the state government’s contribution will increase by Rs 2,589 crore.

The total contribution from the state will be Rs 11,089 crore for the construction of concrete roads. The contribution of Maharashtra – State Infrastructure Development Corporation (MSIDC) under the Public Works Department (PWD) has now been increased to Rs 5,875 crore in this project. The corporation will manage these roads for 17.5 years, the statement said.

It has also extended the deadline for power looms to apply for concession in power tariffs till March 2025. The looms operating more than 27 hp but less than 201 hp machines will be given a tariff of 75 paise per unit. However, registration of such looms is mandatory, which has now been relaxed.

Looms with machines less than 27 HP will also get electricity at Rs 1 per unit. These machines will also benefit from this relaxation, the statement said.

The cabinet has also approved a proposal to set up solar power plants in Yavatmal, Washim and Chandrapur districts at a fixed rate. Germany’s KfW Development Bank has provided a loan of 130 million euros for installation of solar panels to generate electricity.

Initially, the loan was to be repaid at an interest of 0.05 per cent. However, the Cabinet has decided to revise it to 2.84 per cent per annum. The entire loan has to be repaid within a maximum period of 12 years. As a result, the revised cost of the projects has come down from Rs 1,564.22 crore to Rs 1,494.46 crore.