Jain, who was attending a meeting on the Rent Act issue, said the repeal of ULCRA would free large tracts of land in the state, which would bring down land prices by 10-15 per cent. He said he did not recollect how much land would be available once the Act is scrapped, but statistics from his department reveal it to be a whopping 99 hectares, almost half of what is expected to be available countrywide. Mumbai alone has almost 27 hectares under ULCRA.

At present, a cabinet sub-committee comprising members of the opposition as well is considering the matter, said Jain. According to Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, ``The committee will advise the cabinet. The cabinetdecision will be placed before the Assembly, which will then take the final decision.''

However, opposition members informed that Joshi is not too keen on repealing ULCRA. Housing activists, too, view the CM as being reluctant to repeal the Act as a large number of exemptions are granted under it.