In a landmark reform, the Maharashtra government has decided to regularise all land transactions conducted over the past 59 years, free of charge. This step allows plot holders whose property transfers were previously considered irregular to have their ownership officially recognised in the 7/12 extract land records or property cards. A 7/12 extract is a vital land record document that certifies ownership and contains details such as survey number, area, ownership status, and cultivation type. On Tuesday, the state revenue department amended the Maharashtra Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings (MPFCH) Act through an ordinance to bring the measure into effect. According to the ordinance, “To update the record of rights, the government considers it expedient to amend the said Act to provide for deemed regularisation of such fragments without charging any premium.” Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule confirmed that the move applies to all land transactions that took place between 15 November 1965 and 15 October 2024. The MPFCH Act was originally enacted to prevent agricultural land from being divided into uneconomical plots, prohibiting the creation of “fragments” — land parcels smaller than the prescribed minimum area. It restricted their sale, typically requiring adjacent landowners to purchase them, thereby promoting land consolidation for efficient farming. However, with urbanisation expanding rapidly over recent decades, large tracts of agricultural land near cities and developed municipal areas were re-zoned for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes under various regional plans. This reclassification permitted non-agricultural use, resulting in numerous land transactions and divisions that technically violated the Act. Consequently, many property holders were unable to have their ownership formally recorded in official land documents. “This revolutionary decision enables the regularisation of all land transactions previously conducted in violation of the Act, resolving decades of ambiguity in land ownership. Effective immediately, the MPFCH Act will no longer apply to lands permitted for non-agricultural use,” said Bawankule. He added that buyers with registered sale or purchase deeds whose names were not reflected in the 7/12 extract would now be able to have their names formally entered as owners. Those with unregistered documents can register their deeds with the sub-registrar and subsequently update the land record. The ordinance applies to all regions where non-agricultural use is permitted under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act or the respective metropolitan region development authority Acts. This includes major cities such as Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur, as well as special planning zones and peripheral areas governed by the Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations (UDCPR).