Revised Property Rates Will Come into Effect From June 5

Hyderabad: The revised market values of agricultural lands, plots, flats, and apartments across Telangana will come into effect from June 5, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy announced on Wednesday. With this, property registrations in Telangana will become costlier from June 5. The decision follows the state Cabinet's recent directive to rationalise land values in areas where government rates significantly differed from prevailing market prices.

The minister said the revision was undertaken in line with the vision of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and after an extensive study based on recommendations made by noted economist Arvind Subramanian, as well as consultations with senior officials. He stated that the government adopted a scientific approach by examining regional market conditions, registration trends, open market prices and the gap between government valuations and actual transaction values before arriving at the revised rates.

Srinivas Reddy said that the previous BRS government had increased land values twice within a span of six months during 2021-22 without conducting a comprehensive exercise, while also raising registration charges from 6 per cent to 7.5 per cent. He said those revisions were largely based on percentage calculations and tabulated estimates rather than detailed field studies, resulting in some areas being undervalued and others being assigned rates much higher than actual market values.

The minister noted that the wide disparity between market prices and government valuations had led to several issues in land transactions. To address these anomalies, the Congress government undertook a comprehensive review of market values across all 144 Sub-Registrar Office jurisdictions in the state. Rural and urban market value revision committees assessed local conditions and prepared revised rates, which were subsequently approved.

He said factors such as regional development potential, growth rates, recent land auctions, market demand, new road networks, growth corridors, the Outer Ring Road (ORR), Regional Ring Road (RRR), industrial expansion and infrastructure development were taken into consideration while determining the revised market values.

Referring to flats and apartments, the minister said that in several areas, market prices on the ground were lower than the officially prescribed rates for higher floors, creating disparities. To rectify this, the government has rationalised valuations by applying uniform rates across all floors in such locations. No increase has been proposed in areas where market values are already high, he added.

The government has also fixed minimum base rates for agricultural lands, plots and flats in the jurisdictions of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), CURE areas and other parts of the state, taking into account varying levels of regional development.

Srinivas Reddy further said that construction costs had not been revised since 2021 despite significant increases in the prices of building materials and labour wages over the past five years. In view of these changes, and considering the upgradation of several municipalities into municipal corporations and the merger of gram panchayats into municipalities, the government has revised rates for RCC and non-RCC constructions in both rural and urban areas.

The minister said the revisions were aimed at ensuring transparency, reflecting actual market conditions and preventing inconvenience to the public. He expressed confidence that the move would improve transparency in land transactions, contribute to the state's economic growth and enhance government revenue collections.