Maha hikes rent for land leased during Raj

Maharashtra government announced on Tuesday a hike in rent for its land leased to private properties during the British period and decided that the lease period will not be more than 30 years. Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said there were several properties on government land given on long lease by the British for periods of 50, 99 and 999 years.

He was addressing a press conference at the CII National Council meet after the weekly cabinet meeting.

''Some agreements have expired in the 1970s and 1990s and the amount of rent needs to be re-looked when they come for renewal," said Chavan. "In Colaba area of south Mumbai, government gets a mere R17.71 as rent for a 570 sq mt land while for a 3,070 sq mt land, the rent is only R74.49 annually. This is not acceptable," he said.

Earlier, the state government had decided to hike the rent through a cabinet decision but it was challenged in court and the government had to go through the litigation process. "In 2006, the cabinet withdrew its 1999 decision. But today we are revisiting that decision," he said.

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