Finance Minister Sitharaman's Bhu-Aadhaar Land Records Push Faces A Major Hurdle: Unclear Titles

In her seventh budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government plans to implement land-related reforms in both rural and urban areas.

A key aspect of this initiative is the completion of the assignment of a Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN), also known as Bhu-Aadhaar, for all lands.

Notably, the digitisation of land records, which is being carried out under the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP), has been making steady progress.

However, beneath the surface of digitisation lies a significant issue. While digitisation creates electronic records of land ownership, the true challenge is establishing the actual owner.

India currently operates under a system of presumptive land titling. In this approach, land records reflect information about possession based on historical transactions, with ownership determined by current possession.

Land registration simply records transactions such as sale deeds, inheritances, mortgages, and leases. However, having registration papers does not provide a guarantee from the government or legal framework regarding the actual ownership title of the land.

In contrast, a conclusive land titling system would clearly establish actual ownership, with the government responsible for ensuring accuracy. Under this system, once a title is granted, any disputes must be resolved with the government rather than the title holder.

The main advantage of a conclusive land titling system is its potential to drastically cut down land-related litigation. According to a NITI Aayog study, land and real estate disputes often take an average of 20 years to resolve in court. Moreover, a 2007 World Bank study found that these disputes make up two-thirds of all pending court cases in India.

However, implementing conclusive land titling in India is proving challenging. In 2020, NITI Aayog drafted a model Land Title Act that advocated for conclusive land titles and state-guaranteed ownership. However, many states opposed the draft legislation, causing this progressive law to remain in limbo.

The issue became a major political focal point during the May 2024 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.

In September 2022, the Y S Jaganmohan Reddy government enacted the Andhra Pradesh Land Titling Act, inspired by NITI Aayog’s model law.

This legislation aimed to establish conclusive and guaranteed property titles, moving beyond the existing deed registration system. However, it faced criticism from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the JanaSena Party (JSP), which labeled it as "Jagan’s land grabbing act."

With the TDP-JSP alliance emerging victorious in the assembly elections, the future of this law remains uncertain.

Land disputes and unclear titling continue to hinder infrastructure development, leading to costly delays and inefficiencies. The lack of clear ownership also contributes to a black market for land transactions, resulting in lost tax revenue for the government.

For example, recent years have seen a disturbing increase in murders related to land and property disputes in Uttar Pradesh.

National Crime Records Bureau data indicates that between 2017 and 2021, 3,021 murders in the state were linked to such disputes, with figures of 227 in 2021, 642 in 2020, 516 in 2019, 1,323 in 2018, and 313 in 2017.