Bhubaneswar: Indiscriminate valuation of land in Odisha by the State land registration authorities has unduly benefited builders, hoteliers, market malls, commercial establishments at the cost of the government exchequer.
Interestingly, luxury hotels, push commercial complexes have come up on lands categorized as jungle, patita, sarad, bagayat, biali do phasali(irrigated), road/nayanjori and gharbari.
In Bhubaneswar, Reliance Fresh and SBI in Barmunda area are located on land belonging to Jungle II kisam. Similarly, Patra Electronics, GIET University and Raj Electronics in Barmunda are on plots registered as kisam Jungle II. Esplanade Shopping Mall is sitting on 0.902 Ac land of kisam Gharbari. The buildings housing commercial shops like Amber, Vishal Baazar, OyO in Patrapada have been built on land kisam Patita. Several commercial establishment have come up on plots in District Centre of Chandrasekherpur area. The plot-326 comprising area of85.543 Ac. belongs to kisam Unnata Yojana Jogya (eligible for improved planning).
Quality Botters Pvt. Ltd. in Jatni has been set up on land belonging to kisam Bagayat-II
The OSL Prestige, Cuttack, is located on land belonging to kisam Biali Do Phasali.
In Puri, while hotels like Golden Palace, Jamindar Palace, Mayfair Waves and Mayfari Heritage are sitting on land of kisam Gharbari, Hotel Pramod Resort, Hotel Prabhupada, Hotel Larica are on land belonging to kisam Patita. Hotel Golden Dust, Balaji International and Neeladri Premium have come up on land kisam Sarada-2.
Mayuree Tower, Tanishq Showroom, Black & White Foreign Liquor shop, Jami Bhima Raju & Brothers Jewellery Shop, Hotel Bhubaneswari, Steel & Style Furniture in Berhampur city are on plots of kisam Gharabari.
Similarly, in Sambalpur, Hotel Sheela Towers, Hotel Harjit Residency, Hotel Apsara , Prasad Jeweller are on land of kisam Gharbari and KCF & Pizza Hot on plot kisam Malakhari.
The Comptroller & Auditor General, Odisha, in its latest report, which was tabled in the State Assembly in the recently concluded Monsoon Session, has pointed out that several properties, which were commercial in nature, has been recorded as residential or other Kisam.
The CAG observed that non-compliance with the provisions of Rule -38 and 39 of the Odisha Stamp (Amendment) Rules, 2001, has resulted in incorrect categorisation of high-value commercial plots and non-fixation/ non-revision of Market Value Guidelines (MVG) of a substantial number of plots. According to it, the sub-registrars concerned have not revised the MVG although the information regarding the commercial use of the plots is available in the office. From the consideration value of lease deeds and rent amout, the underlying value of the property could have been estimated accurately and taken into account(based on the future income streams to be generated by the underlying assets.
The CAG has recommended that the registering officers should revise the MVG bi-annually with the strict adherence of the Odisha Stamp (Amendment) Rule 2001.
