In a landmark move ending decades of hardship for urban homeowners, Maharashtra has passed the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025, freeing nearly three crore citizens from restrictive fragmentation laws that prevented them from securing legal land titles or selling small plots.
Approved on December 9, the amendment brings long-awaited relief to around 60 lakh families who have lived in legal uncertainty despite owning homes for generations. Under the old rules, countless citizens occupied tiny urban plots yet remained excluded from land records, and transactions on parcels as small as 5–10 gunthas were nearly impossible due to repeated non-agricultural (NA) permissions and procedural hurdles.
The new law eliminates the requirement for separate NA approvals in areas covered by sanctioned Development Plans or Regional Plans. Instead, homeowners can complete the process with a one-time premium, enabling swift land title issuance and individual 7/12 entries without bureaucratic delays. Introducing the bill, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said it corrects an “unjust system” that kept legitimate homeowners in limbo for decades.
The amendment triggered strong debate in the Assembly. Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav declined support, warning the law might benefit builders more than citizens. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar argued that without proper Development Plans, land regularisation alone would not address basic infrastructure gaps.
However, several MLAs—including Nana Patole, Suresh Dhas, Pravin Datke, Amit Deshmukh, Rahul Kul, Krishna Khopde, Hiramana Khoskar, Prashant Solanke, Abhijit Patil, Sanjay Gaikwad and Ravi Rana—strongly backed the bill and praised Bawankule for delivering long-awaited justice.
Representatives Chandradeep Narke, Vikram Pachpute and Ramesh Bornare urged that similar relief be extended to rural regions, where low holding limits still obstruct land transactions.
Bawankule clarified that the amendment is intended to empower citizens, not builders. He emphasised that reservations will remain unaffected and that all eligible cases before October 15, 2024, will receive full benefit, although fragmentation after that date will not be permitted. He also instructed district collectors to work closely with local representatives during implementation.
The reform marks a decisive shift away from outdated land policies—finally granting millions of ordinary Maharashtrians the legal certainty, dignity and ownership they have been denied for generations.
