Kolkata: Real estate stakeholders have welcomed BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya’s statement that the state govt was considering repealing the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976, but cautioned that any rollback must be backed by safeguards against speculative hoarding, land monopolies and sharp price escalation.Real estate consultant Samantak Das said, “safeguards in a repeal legislation are critical to prevent speculative hoarding, price inflation, displacement and land monopolies”. He urged the state to prevent “land hoarding without development, to artificially hike prices”.Das also said any new framework should mandate “a fixed percentage of any large-scale land development be reserved for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) housing and public greenspace to ensure the repeal does not only benefit the luxury segment”.He warned that “rapid land conversion must be checked by strict adherence to the West Bengal Wetlands and Water Bodies Act” and said industrial land released after repeal “should not be permitted for conversion if it poses an ecological threat”.“Efforts should be taken to develop transparent digital land records,” Das said, warning that without “title digitisation, mutation clarity, litigation tracking and GIS-linked ownership records”, implementation hurdles would remain. Another consultancy representative said, “Circle rates should also be rationalised in line with market realities to ensure smoother transactions and sustained investor confidence.” Industry representatives have also suggested imposing Development Impact Fees on large land aggregations to fund roads, sewage and power infrastructure for high-density projects.Sector voices noted that states which repealed ULCRA replaced ownership ceilings with zoning regulations, development plans, floor space index controls and land reservations for public amenities. Many also retained affordable housing obligations through “mandatory affordable housing quotas, EWS/LIG reservations, inclusionary zoning and rehabilitation obligations for slum redevelopment”.
