Mumbai: The assembly on Monday passed Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Amendment) Bill. Revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said it will pave the way for thousands of hectares of uncultivated grazing land (gairan) in municipal corporation and municipal council areas to be used for public works.He asserted that commercial use of these grazing lands will not be permitted. “Gairan land is generally protected and cannot be diverted or leased for other purposes, except for public projects or if no other suitable land is available, subject to strict regulations,” said the bill. The legislative council will need to clear the bill too, which will then need the governor and the President’s ratification. Bawankule said around 7,700 hectares of land can be made available for public works. He said according to the new rules, such land will be registered as collector’s land. “It will be mandatory to take the district collector’s permission for any use of these lands. Also, the land will be measured and after removing encroachments, it will be taken over by govt.”Officials said this decision is likely to make uncultivated land in 29 municipalities and many smaller towns in the state available for development works. The assembly also passed Maharashtra Stamp (Amendment) Bill, 2026, aimed at speeding up disposal of stamp duty refund applications by decentralising financial powers in the revenue department. Officials said under existing provisions, refund of stamp duty paid on stamps or through challans—when stamps are spoiled, misused or not required—can be granted by authorities under Chief Controlling Revenue Authority (CCRA) only up to Rs 20 lakh, while applications for higher amounts must be referred to CCRA. —Chaitanya Marpakwar
