URBAN LAND (CEILING

AND REGULATION)
ACT,1976
INTRODUCTION

• The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act came into force in 1976 during
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s regime.

• It was a means for lower income sections to fulfill their dreams for a home.

• The main purpose of the Act was to prevent hoarding or excessive holding of land in
urban agglomerations by few people.

• The Act applied to large cities because the shortage of land was felt more grievously
there as there was a constant influx of population.
• Urban Agglomerations were covered in their entirety by the Act and the peripheral
areas were specially considered to prevent haphazard growth.

• Initially 11 states, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,

Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and 7
Union Territories adopted the Act.

• Later, it was adopted by six more States namely Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh,
Manipur, Meghalaya and Rajasthan, making a total of 17 states and 7 UTs.

• The state of Tamil Nadu did not adopt this but rather formulated its own “Tamil
Nadu Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act, 1978.
NEED FOR THE ACT
• To safeguard the land from profiteering and hoarding by land developers in urban
land markets.

• To prevent urban congestion.

• To offer affordable housing to lower and mid income group in urban areas.

AIM OF THE ACT

The ULCRA act, 1976 aims to facilitate proper distribution and uniform development
of all sectors of urban areas.
OBJECTIVES OF THE ACT
• To prevent concentration of urban property in the hands of a few persons and
speculation and profiteering therein;

• To bring about socialization of urban land in urban agglomerations to sub serve the
common good by ensuring its equitable distribution;

• To discourage construction of luxury housing leading to conspicuous consumption of

scarce building materials and to ensure the equitable utilization of such materials;

• To secure orderly urbanization.

DEFINITIONS
• Person: It includes an individual, a family, a firm, a company, or an association or
body of individuals whether incorporated or not.

• Ceiling Limit:

1. Ceiling limit on vacant lands for urban agglomerations of metropolitans of Delhi,

Bombay, Calcutta and Madras which fall under the category ‘A’ is 500 sq. meters.
2. At 1,000 sq. meters for urban agglomerations with a population exceeding ten lakhs
and above. This forms category ‘B’.
3. At 1,500 sq. meters for an agglomeration having population between three to ten
lakhs, in category ‘C’.
4. At 2000 sq. meters for agglomerations having population between two to three
lakhs under category ‘D’.
• Appointed Day: It is the day on which the Act first becomes applicable to the state.

• Vacant Land: The ceilings under the Act have been imposed only on vacant lands.

Vacant land includes lands which are in urban agglomerations and not being used for
agricultural purposes but does not include:

1. land on which construction of a building is not permissible under the applicable

building regulations, or,
2. land in an area where building regulations are in force occupied by any building
which was constructed before the appointed day by the approval of the appropriate
authority i.e. even though it was vacant on the day of survey construction work on
the same had started
3. The land situated in a village within an urban agglomeration whereon any person
ordinarily keeps his cattle (other than for the purpose of dairy farming, breeding,
livestock) immediately before the appointed day.
APPLICATION OF THE ACT

The application of the act can be understood by a case example of land acquisition and
use of acquired land.

• City : Mysore

• Area : North – Western parts of Mysore Urban Area

• Year : 1976-77

• The study area consists of a cluster of Hebbal, Hootagalli and Hinkal areas.

• The land use at the time of acquisition was vacant.

 HEBBAL HOOTAGALLI HINKAL

Existing Land Use: Existing Land Use: Existing Land Use:

Residential, Residential, Residential,
Commercial, Public/ Industrial, Public/ Commercial, Public/
Semi-public Semi-public Semi-public

Acquired Land Use: Acquired Land Use: Acquired Land Use:

Recreational Use Industrial Use Parks and Playgrounds
ADVANTAGES OF THE ACT
The following are the important advantages of the land ceiling act:

• The land ceiling act can be used as a tool to control the land prices in urban areas.

• This act will disallow the multinational companies to acquire large extent of urban
land which is actually used as urban reserves for future purposes.

• Vacant parcels or acquired land shall be in control of the State government and will
be used for the common good by land disposal.

• The land acquired through ceiling act will be eventually used for public utilities.
Hence it can be mentioned that this act is definitely a measure for infrastructural
development.
DISADVANTAGES OF THE ACT
The following are the disadvantages of the land ceiling act:

• The acquired land from the private owners is not utilized immediately for urban
purposes.

• These lands are kept in a very unaesthetic manner as pockets of undeveloped lands
within the urban scene for long period of time thereby leading to disutility.

• The fundamental right to property is hampered and the confidence of citizen upon
the government will be lost giving rise to many problems related to peace and
harmony in urban areas.
ISSUES WITH THE ACT

With the enforcement of the ULCRA Act, the following issues arose:

• It was difficult to acquire land for projects in Urban Areas

• Land not declared by many individuals in many states and land hoarding continued.

• Many residential colonies came up on “vacant land”, i.e., the land acquired by the
state government from individuals

• Many disputed court cases in various states

• The process of approval for development became tedious.

URBAN LAND (CEILING AND REGULATION) 1976,
REPEAL ACT 1999

The ULCRA Act had not been very successful in achieving its aim and fulfilling its
objectives. The Act had many issues which made it difficult for the State governments
to continue enforcing it. Hence, Urban land (ceiling and regulation) 1976, Repeal act
1999 was notified.

This Act stated that

‘ The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (hereinafter referred
to as the principal Act) is hereby repealed.’
TIMELINE OF THE ACT
 EXEMPTIONS OF THE REPEAL ACT
• The vesting of any vacant land under sub-section (3) of section 10, possession of
which has been taken over by the State Government or any person duly authorized
by the State Government in this behalf or by the competent authority

• The validity of any order granting exemption under sub-section (1) of section 20 or
any action taken thereunder, notwithstanding any judgment of any court to the
contrary;

• Any payment made to the State Government as a condition for granting exemption
under subsection (1) of section 20

(Under section 20, the state government allowed flexibility in the land ceiling for some development
projects in lieu of something for the state government. For example, if exempted, the developer has to
build 15% EWS housing in the project.)
EFFECTS OF THE REPEAL ACT
• Increase in quantum of land that becomes available for development.

• Increase in the share of housing stock by permitting land developers to buy land and
develop for housing purposes.

• Registration of land increased

• Increase in construction activity

• Increase in the ownership ratio

• Released land used for construction of houses for EWS/LIG

• Reduction in time for getting permission for development