Karnataka pushes for ease of purchasing agricultural land for industries

After deciding to make sweeping policy changes on purchasing agricultural land, the state government will now integrate software to allow sub-registrars to easily register assets that industrialists have purchased directly from farmers.

The government has issued a detailed circular on implementing ‘deemed approval’ under Section 109 of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act that allows direct purchase of agricultural land from farmers for non-agricultural (industrial) use.

The circular is based on a recent amendment to the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, that exempts land for industrial purposes approved by the State High Level Clearance Committee (SHLCC) or the State Level Single Window Clearance Committee (SLSWCC) from Sections 63, 79A, 79B and 80, which imposed restrictions on non-agriculturists purchasing or owning agricultural land.

“Orders issued based on approvals given by the SHLCC or SLSWCC to proposals will be the orders applicable for Section 109 of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act,” the revenue department said in the circular. “Sub-registrars are to register land based on these orders. To enable determination of date of registration, registration fee and stamp fees, the Karnataka Udyog Mitra (KUM) portal will be integrated with the Kaveri portal,” it said.

KUM is the government’s single-window platform for industries to apply for investment in the state, whereas the Kaveri portal is the property registration software maintained by the Department of Stamps & Registration.

The government has already announced that once a proposal to purchase land for industrial purposes is cleared by the SHLCC or SLSWCC, the process under Section 109 has to be completed in 30 days (it was 60 days earlier). If not, it will be deemed permitted or approved. The government has also decided to introduce a 30-day limit to authorise the conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural or industrial purposes.

According to the circular, industries that wish to purchase agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes must apply on the KUM portal. The application will be sent to the concerned deputy commissioner who should submit a report within 15 days. Irrespective of the DCs report, the application will be sent to the land audit committees. Proposals cleared by these panels will be placed before the SHLCC or SLSWCC for final approval.

Finally, companies or investors will get a digitally-signed copy of the ‘deemed’ land conversion order as soon as they pay the fees online through Bhoomi, the land records database, which will also be integrated with the KUM portal.