Mumbai, The Maharashtra Government has scrapped the requirement of obtaining separate ‘NA’ permission while converting agricultural land for non-agricultural use, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Wednesday.
The approval of the building plan granted by the Town Planning Department or the local planning authority will now be deemed as the N A permission, eliminating the need to obtain separate approval from the district collector.
Bawankule said the decision was based on the directions of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and the necessary amendments have been made to the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code.
A gazette notification has been issued in this regard. The annual non-agricultural tax has also been abolished.
The minister noted that until now, citizens had to approach the district collector for non-agricultural permission even after securing building plan approval from the planning authority.
“Under the new provisions, if the proposed land use is permissible as per the Development Plan, the building permission granted by the planning authority will itself be treated as non-agricultural permission. No separate sanction or certificate from the district collector will be required,” he said.
The government has also clarified that banks should not insist on a separate non-agricultural certificate to grant loans once building permission has been issued by the planning authority.
In a relief to citizens with pending non-agricultural tax dues, the government has waived recovery of arrears up to the date of this reform.
“However, landholders whose lands were converted to non-agricultural use before or after 2001 will have to pay a one-time conversion premium at prescribed rates within one year from the date of the government decision,” said the revenue minister.
Applications for building permission can be submitted online through the Building Plan Management System or the Auto Development Control Regulations, he said.
Once building permission is granted, the change will be automatically recorded in the 7/12 land title document through the Revenue Department’s computerised system.
However, merely obtaining building permission will not change the status of ‘Occupant Class-II’ land, and the applicable nazarana charges will have to be paid separately, he said.
Instead of the annual non-agricultural tax, a one-time conversion premium based on the market value of the land will be levied in slabs.
Bawankule added that the framework for the reform had been finalised during the winter session of the state legislature and described the move as a step aimed at providing relief to the common people.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.