Mumbai, March 24 (IANS) The Maharashtra Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Second Amendment) Bill 2026, which delegates powers to district collectors and divisional commissioners to regularise minor breaches of conditions, ensuring that 90 per cent of cases are resolved locally.
Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who tabled the bill, said the process of regularising breaches of conditions (shartabhang) in government land transactions will now become simpler and faster.
Until now, there was no explicit legal provision within the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (MLRC) to regularise breaches occurring in lands granted by the government on an occupancy or leasehold basis.
The process was carried out through government circulars, but the absence of statutory backing led to litigation and pendency.
To address this, amendments were introduced under Sections 37 ‘A’ and 328 ‘A’ of the Code.
Bawankule said, “Until today, files for even minor breaches had to be sent to Mantralaya. This created a massive workload, and citizens had to travel to Mumbai for small matters. We are decentralising these powers. Around 90 per cent of cases involving values up to Rs 1 crore will now be settled at the District Collector or Divisional Commissioner level. Only ultra-high-value cases will come to Mantralaya.”
The bill received unanimous support from MLAs across parties.
The Assembly also passed the Maharashtra Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Laws (Amendment) Bill 2026, aimed at accelerating industrial investment and removing hurdles in the Tenancy Act.
A key provision abolishes the burdensome “40-times Nazrana” on land sales and grants extensions to industrial projects under special circumstances.
Bawankule explained, “Earlier, tenants had to pay a premium equivalent to 40 times the land revenue when selling land 10 years after receiving ownership rights. Though nominal, recovery took years, causing harassment. This has now been abolished.”
He added that industrial projects delayed due to global crises such as COVID-19, NCLT cases, or civil disputes will now be eligible for a three-year extension granted by the State Government to ensure uniformity.
Further, only ‘Class-1’ lands can be acquired for industrial clusters. If land is ‘Class-2’, it must be converted before purchase. It is mandatory to inform the District Collector within 30 days of changing land use, failing which a conversion premium five times the original amount will be recovered.
--IANS
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