Over 30 million rural property cards generated under the central sector scheme – Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (Svamitva), has boosted access to formal financial services by enabling the cards as collateral against loans, an evaluation study by Indian Institute of Management (IIM) has stated.
“As per data compiled in coordination with state level bankers’ committees, approximately 10,913 loans amounting to ₹1,679 crore have been sanctioned using SVAMITVA property cards as collateral,” IIM, Ahmedabad stated in its report. These loans have availed by property titles holders for buying vehicles, expanding business and renovating houses.
Economic Impact
Overall credit uptake has increased by average 6.5% across Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh according to RBI data, the survey stated. It stated that credit offtake increased by highest 15% – 16% in Maharashtra where 37 lakh property titles have been provided under Svamitva. In Maharashtra according to IIM study, property card distribution raised Gram Panchayat (GP) property tax revenue by 4.71% or ₹10,284 per GP annually while other local taxes increased by 7.57% or ₹5,566 per GP.
On the land formalisation, the study has stated that registered mutations on residential parcels grew 6.2% annually in Madhya Pradesh while agricultural parcel mutations decline by 4.87% indicating reduced informal land conversions and clearer boundaries
To ease monetisation of rural properties, the government is aiming to provide property titles to 40 million rural families across 3.46 lakh villages across 31 states and union territories by the end of September, 2027.
Key states which have generated property cards include Uttar Pradesh (1.11 crore), Madhya Pradesh (67.33 lakh), Haryana (25.15 lakh), Gujarat (17.65 lakh) and Karnataka (10.58 lakh).
Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal are not covered under Svamitva scheme because of their pre-existing land records. However the scheme does not cover tribal regions or panchayats extension to scheduled areas (PESA) as in several of these regions lands are jointly owned by communities.
Under the scheme drone-based surveys enable high-precision mapping of properties, ensuring objective and accurate boundary identification. Prior to drone surveys, property boundaries are delineated through chunna marking with the consent and participation of property owners.
Precision Mapping
SVAMITVA is currently being implemented by the panchayati raj ministry in collaboration with state revenue and panchayati raj departments and survey of India has so far provided property titles to over 3.14 crore people in 1.89 lakh villages. The area surveyed over 3 lakh villages under the Svamitva of 67,000 sq.km has an intrinsic value of over Rs 135 lakh crore, according to an official note.
In the absence of land titles, selling and buying of properties were initiated using power of attorney which was not recognised as valid documents by the financial institutions. The focus of the programme is to demarcate Abadi or inhabited land followed by large scale mapping of villages through usage of drones and subsequently ground verification of maps by the revenue officials.