VIJAYAWADA: Registration of properties has declined dramatically across the State barring in some districts like Visakhapatnam and Kurnool, and have dealt a major blow to the exchequer.
The state received cumulative collection of revenue through registration of properties worth nearly Rs 4,753 crore from April 1, 2020 to March 2 of this year as against Rs 4,895 crore generated for the corresponding period in the previous fiscal, showing a shortfall of 2.89 per cent in revenue collection.
However, some districts registered a good growth in revenue collections for varied reasons: Srikakulam 5.37 per cent, Vizianagaram 1.86 per cent, Visakhapatnam 2.02 per cent, Prakasam 6.77 per cent, Anantapur 5.53 per cent and Kurnool 8.01 per cent.
Districts showing negative growth in revenue collections include: East Godavari 1.96 per cent, West Godavari 9.12 per cent, Krishna 10.75 per cent, Guntur 8.43 per cent, Nellore 8.93 per cent, Chittoor 7.80 per cent and Kadapa 2.40 per cent.
One of the main reasons attributed for the positive growth in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam is stated to be the move to set up administrative capital in Visakhapatnam. Registration authorities maintain that open lands located in Anandapuram, Bheemili and Madhurawada and other regions were developed and layouts established. This resulted in people going on a buying spree assuming that the land value of the plots would increase in the days ahead.
As Visakhapatnam is closely linked to Srikakulam and Vizianagaram, the same trend prevailed and there was a rise in registration of properties fetching handsome revenue.
The upswing in Kurnool is reportedly because of the proposed High Court. Local registration authorities maintain that the upward revision of market value last August, where a minimum of '2 lakh was fixed as market value for an acre of farmland in areas falling under the jurisdiction of Kalluru sub-registrar office and also in villages falling under the purview of Kurnool Urban Development Authority. In Anantapur too, real estate gained momentum. Open lands are being converted as layouts and there is anticipation of speedy construction of houses and their registration.
However, on the flip side, Krishna district registered negative growth of 10.75 per cent and Guntur district, which hosts Amaravati, also registered a negative growth of 8.43 per cent.
Registration sources maintain that the move to relocate administrative and judicial capitals is impacting the negative growth. However, there is no matching rise in revenue collections in Visakhapatnam and its two neighbouring districts to offset negative growth. One of the prime reasons for the phenomenon is that big players are venturing into safer zones like Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune and other metros while some are unwilling to risk an investment following the sudden boom in land value.
A senior official from registration department said, “We are expecting registration of properties to rise as all deferred agreements for registration of properties during lockdown due to Covid-19 are getting materialized. The real estate industry is also slowly picking up overcoming initial hiccups due to RERA, 2016. Revision of market value of properties is expected to come in handy.”
