Owners of unauthorised homes and plots in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar’s gunthewari areas have until October 31 to regularise them under the municipal corporation’s current concessions. Mayor Sameer Rajurkar has said the corporation will not extend the window again, so anyone still holding an unregularised house or open plot has a little over three weeks to file.
What the scheme covers
Gunthewari refers to land divided and sold in small pieces without approved layouts, a pattern that spread across the city’s fringes over decades. The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) runs a regularisation scheme for such properties, and its general body voted in April to stretch the 2026 window from April 30 to the end of October, Navbharat Live reported.
A CSMC circular issued in July set out the terms. Constructions and layouts must date from before December 31, 2020. According to Navarashtra, the concessions break down as follows:
- Houses up to 300 sq m: betterment charges waived in full.
- Buildings of 300 to 2,000 sq m: waiver on the built-up area; the remaining open land pays the standard charge.
- Open plots in unauthorised layouts: 50% off betterment charges until September 15, and 25% off from September 16 to October 31. Layouts must keep 10% of the land as open space under the state’s unified building rules.
- Construction beyond the permitted area: a penalty of 10% of the ready reckoner value.
In August the general body went further. The administration had proposed trimming the 10% penalty on ancillary charges and side-margin charges by half; corporators pushed for a full waiver and got it unanimously, Navbharat Live reported. Pudhari estimated that the change cut costs for owners of built houses by 40 to 50%.
What the numbers show
Between July 15 and September 10, the CSMC collected Rs 26.90 crore from 2,472 proposals and approved about 850 of them, according to Pudhari. On September 15 alone, the last day of the 50% open-plot rate, 205 owners paid Rs 2.32 crore and the department ran out of challan books by evening, the paper reported.
The scheme has become a steady earner for the CSMC. Collections rose from Rs 55.46 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 77.13 crore in 2025-26, with proposals jumping from 3,862 to 9,778, town planning figures presented to the general body show.
What it costs you
CSMC levies betterment charges at Rs 1,837 per sq m, Navarashtra reported. On a 450 sq m open plot that comes to about Rs 8.27 lakh at full rate. At 25% off, an owner pays roughly Rs 6.2 lakh; from November 1, the full amount applies. Owners of a house under 300 sq m pay no betterment charge in this window; after October 31 that waiver lapses too.
The rush has strained the system. At a September 19 general body meeting, BJP corporator Raju Vaidya asked for two more months, citing crowds at the department, a single bank counter for payments and a staff shortage, Pudhari reported. The same report said the open-plot 50% rate had been given a one-month extension, a point owners should confirm at the counter before paying. Rajurkar also made an unannounced inspection of the department on September 18 after complaints that some panel architects were overcharging applicants.
Before you file
- Check that your construction or plot sale predates December 31, 2020; later structures fall outside the scheme.
- Ask the gunthewari department for the rate that applies on the day you pay, since open-plot concessions have shifted twice this year.
- Get a written fee quote from your architect or consultant, and compare it with others on the CSMC panel.
- File well before the last week of October to avoid the payment queues seen in September.
What to watch
The mayor has ruled out another extension, but the administration told the September meeting that it would consider the question only after the current deadline passes. Corporators have won bigger concessions than the administration proposed once already this year. Until the CSMC announces otherwise, October 31 is the date to plan around.
Sources: Navbharat Live, Navarashtra, Pudhari
This report was written with AI assistance from the publicly reported sources linked here; each fact was cross-checked against at least two of them.