Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu distributed house-site title deeds to 28,445 families in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, granting them full ownership of land valued at nearly Rs. 90 bn. The distribution covers families that had been living in houses built on the land without complete legal rights.

The title deeds regularise 399 acres, covering more than 1,930,000 sq yards, and bring an end to a four-decade wait for ownership rights. Naidu personally handed over some of the documents to beneficiaries during the programme.

The state government described the exercise as the first large-scale regularisation and distribution of house-site title deeds in Visakhapatnam. It said thousands of families in the port city had built homes on the land but could not fully exercise ownership because they did not possess title documents.

The absence of legal documents had restricted the beneficiaries’ ability to enjoy, transfer or use their properties as security. With the titles, families will be able to secure the properties, pass them on to their children and obtain greater financial and social security, according to the government’s account of the programme.

Naidu directed officials to regularise government land occupied by such houses wherever there were no objections and to grant ownership rights to the occupants. The process is expected to cover families across several areas, extending from Gajuwaka in Visakhapatnam to Bheemili.

The distribution forms part of the state government’s effort to resolve long-pending land ownership issues affecting residents in established settlements. By formally recognising the occupants’ rights, the administration is seeking to provide legal certainty for homes that families have occupied and maintained for several decades. The beneficiaries can now use the title documents for property-related transactions and succession planning.