Ahmedabad

The Gujarat government has started a massive exercise to computerize all real estate property records of the state’s urban areas. Claimed to be first of its kind in India and funded entirely by the state budget, well placed Sachivalaya sources said, to begin with, the survey would be done in 40 town planning (TP) schemes in the state’s municipal corporation areas.

Wapcos Ltd, a Government of India consultancy agency, has been selected to carry out the survey. It would kick-start by the end of this month, with its men going round each area, mapping every house, office or business premise, including flats and shops.

Of the 40 existing TP schemes selected for carrying out the survey, 19 are from Ahmedabad alone, while the rest are from Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and Bhavnagar municipal corporations.

“All town planning schemes selected are at least five years old,” a senior official said, adding, “In Ahmedabad, care has been taken to include old city areas, eastern outskirts and the developed western region. Once over, the owner will be able to get digitized property title in the form of a property card, showing details of property, including area and status, and past ownership.”

First carried out in Thaltej in Ahmedabad as a pilot project, the ultimate plan is to put history of all urban property ownership titles online, including details like from whom the property has been bought, how many persons it has changed hand, and the size of the property in different times.

“Any non-resident Indian (NRI), sitting in Chicago, for instance, will be able to know online property ownership details in order to carry out a deal in Ahmedabad or Surat,” the official said, adding, “This is necessary in order to avoid any fraud. Of course, security issues would have to be addressed before putting property details online.”

The decision for digitization is learnt to have come after the Union ministry of urban development recently which suggested that a unique number be provided to property holder of each real estate property. The existing property registration is based on who pays the tax on the land or property.

“During the transfer of a property, the title and the extent of rights of the owners are not dealt, which accounts for many disputes”, official sources said. A separate department may have to be set up to issue titles and the unique identification numbers, and maintain the property records.

Source: The Times of India, Ahmedabad