Gurgaon: Haryana govt has centralised the handling of proceeds earned from the sale of municipal land and revenue roads.Under the new system, revenue from all urban local bodies (ULB) will be deposited into a single bank account controlled by its directorate and will no longerremain with individual civic bodies. Separate ledgers will be maintained for each municipality to record the amount contributed by each city.Officials said the move is aimed at preventing misuse of funds at the local level and ensuring that the accumulated money is later allocated for major infrastructure and revenue generating projects within the same city, such as commercial complexes, parking facilities and modern markets.The decision follows amendments to the state land rate policy first notified on Nov 25, 2021. Clause 5(3)(c) of the policy was revised on June 27, 2025, allowing centralised handling of income from land sales. The department has instructed officials to comply with the order and maintain detailed records of all property transactions.The policy is expected to have the greatest financial impact in high value urban centres such as Gurgaon, where municipal land commands premium prices. Until now, if a municipal corporation sold land to private buyers or developers, the proceeds were retained in its own account. This practice has now been discontinued.“… the amount collected from the sale of municipal land or surplus revenue road shall be deposited into a centralised bank account managed at the directorate level. The directorate will maintain a detailed ledger tracking land sales on a municipality wise basis. Once sufficient funds are accumulated, the amount will be allocated to the respective municipalities for the creation of revenue generating assets within those jurisdictions,” the order stated.MCG records show that several parcels of revenue road land have already been sold to private developers. In 2024, eight private builders approached the corporation to purchase revenue road land falling within their housing societies in sectors 63A, 65, 106, 111 and 113.In the current financial year, the corporation has estimated income of Rs 5 crore from the sale of municipal land. In the previous financial year, it earned Rs 3.4 crore from such sales. Although the revenue last year was limited, the corporation had in earlier years sold land to private builders valued at several crores.According to corporation data, in 2018 builders encroached on more than 26 acres of govt revenue road land. Officials said encroachment cases have since increased, and more than 25 builders have applied to purchase such road land from the corporation. Revenue roads were originally created as access paths to agricultural fields in village areas. They came under the jurisdiction of municipal corporations after licensed colonies were developed.
