After 7 years, Ayodhya land circle rates set to rise — by 50% to 200%

The deadline for receiving suggestions is September 4 and the rates will then be finalised and notified.

On July 10, The Indian Express reported that the circle rate in Ayodhya had not been revised for seven years despite a surge in land transactions and the soaring market value of land ever since the 2019 ruling of the Supreme Court which cleared the decks for the construction of the Ram temple.

District Magistrate Chandravijay Singh did not respond to phone calls from The Indian Express for comment on the proposed rates.

The Uttar Pradesh Stamp (Amendment) Act, 1997, which was amended in 2015, states that the “District Collector, as far as possible, in every August month, will determine Rs per square metre minimum value of Agriculture/non-Agriculture land” and other immovable properties considering use of land, irrigation facilities, distance from road, market, bus station, railway station, factories, educational institutions, hospitals and government offices; its location within urban, semi-urban or rural areas; and other possibilities like distance from developed areas.

The list circulated shows that in certain areas, the proposed hike in rate is 200 per cent. For instance, in Tihura Manjha where the circle rate for ‘agriculture’ land since August 2017 ranges from Rs 11 lakh to Rs 23 lakh per hectare, the proposed rates range between Rs 33 lakh and Rs 69 lakh per hectare. This is a village where the House of Abhinandan Lodha has purchased land.

The UP Avas Vikas Parishad, which proposed a township spread over nearly 1,800 acres, had acquired nearly 600 acres until March this year in villages such as Shahnawaz Pur Majha, Barhata Manjha and Tihura Manjha. The remaining acquisition process is underway.

In the Lok Sabha elections this year, SP candidate Awadhesh Prasad defeated the sitting BJP MP to take the Ayodhya (Faizabad) seat. The Milkipur (SC) Assembly seat, vacated by Prasad, will be going to polls later this year.

Ayodhya is among 54 districts of Uttar Pradesh where the circle rate was last revised in 2017. In 21 districts, it was revised in 2023. The rates were also revised in districts adjoining Ayodhya such as Barabanki, Ambedkar Nagar, Gonda and Basti and Sultanpur.

The circle rate is the district administration’s assessment of land value in its jurisdiction, based on which stamp duty is fixed on sale or purchase, and based on which the administration acquires property from land owners, including farmers.

One of the farmers, Durga Prasad Yadav, had sought a hike in circle rate and approached the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on October 5, 2021. The matter is yet to be listed.