Small Land Sales Now Legal; Maharashtra Government Repeals Fragmentation Act in Urban Areas

Mumbai, 6th November 2025: In a significant policy shift, the Maharashtra government has notified the repeal of the Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act within the limits of municipal corporations, municipal councils, and nagar panchayats. The law will also no longer apply to areas under development authorities and regional plans (RP), including non-agricultural zones—such as residential, commercial, and industrial areas—located within 200 meters of village boundaries.

The move effectively legalizes the sale and purchase of smaller land parcels, some as small as one or two gunthas, within these urban and semi-urban zones.

According to officials, the Revenue Department will issue detailed implementation guidelines within the next seven days, after which the decision will come into force. The notification also states that land transactions conducted between November 15, 1965, and October 15, 2024, in violation of the Fragmentation Act, will now be regularized free of charge.

Enacted in 1947, the Fragmentation Act was originally intended to prevent the excessive subdivision of agricultural land and to promote economic viability in farming by consolidating scattered holdings. It prohibited transactions below specified sizes—10 gunthas for irrigated (bagayati) and 20 gunthas for non-irrigated (jirayati) land.

However, in the decades that followed, illegal land sales of smaller plots continued unabated, creating administrative hurdles for the registration and stamp duty departments. Responding to these persistent challenges, the government decided to abolish the outdated law to simplify land ownership and registration processes.

Under the new provisions, buyers whose earlier transactions were registered but not reflected in 7/12 land records will now have their ownership rights officially updated. Those who conducted unregistered transactions can approach the sub-registrar’s office to formalize their ownership and have their names recorded as legal landholders.

The reform is expected to bring long-awaited relief to thousands of small landowners and regularize numerous pending transactions across Maharashtra, paving the way for cleaner property records and improved transparency in land dealings.