60% rebate spurs B-Khata conversion, but fails to attract substantial interest 

With the rebate on B-Khata to A-Khata conversion charges ending on Sunday, 13,000 applications flooded the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) within the last five days, according to GBA data accessed by The Hindu.

M. Maheshwar Rao, Chief Commissioner, GBA, confirmed that 60,000 applications have been received. Data shows that the total estimated revenue that could be generated from the applications stands at ₹402.21 crore.

However, the estimated number of B-Khata properties in Bengaluru is over six lakh, which means a meagre 10% of owners have sought conversion so far, despite a 60% rebate on conversion charges.

When the conversion was first announced, the fixed charges were 5% of the guidance value in the area. However, a poor response prompted the government to reduce the charges to 2% and set August 23 as the deadline for the rebate period. Once the period ends, the conversion scheme will still be in force, but the charges will again be 5% of the guidance value.

North receives most applications

According to the data, Bengaluru North City Corporation received the most applications, with 17,460 requests, which are worth ₹115 crore. The corporation, however, had estimated in its annual budget that it would earn ₹680 crore from the conversion scheme.

While the north corporation has received applications that would have fetched it up to ₹300 crore if the property charges were 5% of the guidance value, the rebate announcement led to a reduction in revenue. Now, all corporations will have to find an alternative revenue avenues to fill the gap.

The north corporation is followed by the west corporation, which received 17,104 applications that can fetch a revenue of ₹99.30 crore. The central corporation, which also has a very few B-Khata properties, has received 591 applications.

High charges effect?

One of the corporation commissioners explained that the conversion charges were still being viewed as high by citizens, leading to a poor response overall.

“There have been cases where people applied for conversion, and when they saw the charges, they refused to proceed with the further process. Many had applied, prompted by seeing their neighbourhood’s properties applying, but there were differences in guidance values within the neighbourhoods, which also led people to retract,” the officer explained.

In addition, there was a general hesitation, as many had already built houses on B-Khata properties, and the conversion would only mean regularising the land, but not the house. That essentially meant citizens were spending lakhs of rupees just to regularise the site.

Last-minute surge

During the ongoing session, Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, in response to a question by MLA for Thirthahalli Araga Jnanendra, presented the conversion data till August 14. The total number of applications till then stood at 47,088.

However, the recent data from the GBA shows that 60,000 applications have been received. A senior GBA officer said they expect the last-minute increase could take the count to 75,000.