"Diwali Loot": HD Kumaraswamy Slams Bengaluru Property Conversion Scheme

Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy has strongly criticised the Karnataka government's newly announced B-Khata to A-Khata conversion scheme in Bengaluru, questioning its affordability for ordinary citizens and calling it extortion'.

Reacting to the scheme, Kumaraswamy said, "For conversion of B-Khata to A-Khata, they are charging an application fee of Rs 500, then they must pay 5 per cent of the guidance value of the property. For someone who has a revenue site and has been paying taxes to the corporation, now they must cough up Rs 2-8 lakh for a site which is 30x40 sq ft. I'm not sure where people will get this money to get their sites converted."

He added, "The government could make Rs 10-15 thousand crores from this. So is this a gift to the people on Diwali or is it a gift from the people to the government?"

Khata is an official document in Karnataka that records a property's tax account with the local municipality or corporation A-khata is issued to genuine properties approved by government planning bodies such as the Bangalore Development Authority, whereas B-khata refers to those without formal government approval.

Kumaraswamy highlighted that while the government has positioned the scheme as a one-time settlement to regularise B-Khata sites, it imposes a heavy financial burden on middle-class families who have already been paying property taxes.

"In the name of this fee alone, the government is extorting hundreds of crores. For a 30x40 plot, they are charging between Rs 4 to 8 lakh. Earlier, residents had to pay only Rs 10,000- Rs 13,000. Now, they are being forced to pay in lakhs. Through this A-Khata scam, the state government is looting Rs 15,000 crore," he said.

The state Cabinet had approved a procedure for all eligible B-Khata site owners (excluding flats and multi-storey units) to convert their properties to A-Khata by paying 5 per cent of the guidance value, along with an application fee of Rs 500 for larger plots. The government maintains that the move is aimed at streamlining urban property records and regularising long-standing B-Khata ownership issues.

DK Shivakumar had termed this as a landmark decision and a sixth guarantee of the Congress government, and said it was a Diwali gift to citizens.