Real estate slag sees drop in land registration

With the Visakhapatnam real estate boom slowing down, the registration department here is finding it tough to meet the set target of Rs 213 crore for the current financial year.

The department, however, posted about 46 per cent growth in revenue during the first half of the current fiscal compared with the corresponding period last fiscal.

Against the target of Rs 106.90 crore for April-September 2007, the Vizag district registration department collected only Rs 96.59 crore, which is a drop of about 10 per cent.

During the current year, the number of land transactions too reduced significantly. "Compared with the first half period of last fiscal, this year our revenue increased by about Rs 31.48 crore, still we may not be able to reach the target because of the drop in transactions," T Saroja, district registrar, told Business Standard.

During the first half of the last fiscal, the department earned Rs 65.11 crore with 3,315 land transactions in Visakhapatnam district. This year during the same period the revenue climbed to Rs 96.59 crore, but the number of transactions declined to 2,965, she said.

"In Vizag district, the real estate boom has slowed down in some parts. The government has also increased the market value of the land," she said adding the present norms too like photographs and urban land sealing department's letters for registrations as proof have led to a decline in the number of registrations.

In October, the revenue from registration fell 30-50 per cent in some sub-registrar offices in Vizag district.

For the year 2007-08, the state government has set a target of Rs 213 crore for the Vizag registration department, but up to the end of September, they could collect only Rs 96.59 crore.