The Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Act, 1976 provides for imposition of a ceiling on vacant land in urban agglomerations, for the acquisition of such land in excess of the ceiling limit, to regulate the construction of buildings on such land and for matters connected therewith, with a view to preventing the concentration of urban land in the hands of a few persons and speculation and profiteering therein and with a view to bringing about an equitable distribution of land in urban agglomerations to subserve the common good.

The Act provided for imposition of a ceiling on both ownership and possession of vacant land in urban agglomerations; acquisition of the excess vacant land by the state government, with powers to dispose the vacant land for common good; payment of an amount for the acquisition of the excess land; and granting exceptions in respect of certain specific categories of vacant land.

This legislation fixed a ceiling on the vacant urban land that a ‘person’ in urban agglomerations can acquire and hold. A person is defined to include an individual, a family, a firm, a company, or an association or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not. This ceiling limit ranges from 500-2,000 square metres (sq. m). Excess vacant land is either to be surrendered to the competent authority appointed under the Act for a small compensation, or to be developed by its holder only for specified purposes. The government acquired any land owned in excess of the prescribed limit by following a specific method of calculation, which was based on the income the acquired land was able to generate.

The Act provides for appropriate documents to show that the provisions of this Act are not attracted or should be produced to the registering officer before registering instruments compulsorily registrable under the Registration Act.

Initially States of Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal adopted the Act. Thereafter, it was adopted by six more States namely Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Rajasthan.

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