Aadhaar likely to be linked to properties

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Department of Land Resources are discussing the proposal and working on modalities to implement this through state governments.

"Though the issue is being discussed at the highest level of the government, it is at the preliminary level," said the official in the Urban Development Ministry.

Earlier in the day, speaking to a news channel, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri said, "It's a great idea to link Aadhaar to property purchases but I am not going to make an announcement on that. It is being linked to banks accounts etc. We can take some additional steps also. It is headed there in any case."

When asked whether linking Aadhaar with properties was logical, the Minister said "Absolutely, that's the way it's heading anyway. I have no doubt that it will happen".

By linking Aadhaar to properties, the government can monitor the property transaction between two parties and curb registration of properties under others' names to park black money. Though in the current system providing PAN is mandatory for registration of properties of a certain value in some states, many transactions still go undetected, said the official.

Since linking Aadhaar with PAN and bank accounts is already made mandatory, linking properties with the 12-digit number will help tax authorities monitor the entire transactions of a person, said the official. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who pledged to crack down on benami properties, had earlier hinted at bringing in stringent steps to check black money.

While the NDA government is strongly pushing for linking of Aadhaar with several social benefits, banks, PAN and mobile numbers, a number of petitions have been filed in the court apprehending breach of security and privacy issues.