July 25: With the economic downturn, real estate transactions in Chitwan have declined. According to the Land Revenue Offices, land buying and selling decreased in the fiscal year 2080/81 compared to the previous fiscal year 2079/80.

According to the Land Revenue Office, Bharatpur, 6,987 plots of land were bought and sold in the last fiscal year. In the previous fiscal year, the number of plots bought and sold was 7,468.

Although land transactions decreased in the last fiscal year compared to the previous one, the Land Revenue Office employees report that buying and selling have nearly come to a standstill in the past six months.

According to Land Revenue Officer Tikaram Adhikari of the Bharatpur office, land transactions have been almost nonexistent in the last six months. "In my six years of working in Chitwan, I have never seen such a decline in land transactions," he said, attributing the drop to the economic downturn.

In the Land Revenue Office, Madi, 1,181 plots were registered last fiscal year, down from 1,562 in the previous fiscal year. The office reports that the decline in land transactions has also led to a decrease in government revenue collection.

The office collected 32.2 million rupees in revenue from land transactions in the last fiscal year, down from 35.7 million rupees in the previous fiscal year.

In the Land Revenue Office, Khairahani, 1,736 plots were registered last fiscal year, compared to 1,804 plots in the previous fiscal year.

However, in the Land Revenue Office, Chanauli, land transactions have slightly increased. According to Chief Narhari Sapkota of the Chanauli office, 4,213 plots were registered last fiscal year, generating 463.9 million rupees in revenue. In the previous fiscal year, 3,953 plots were registered, generating 419.6 million rupees in revenue.

Sixty percent of the revenue collected from service fees, registration fees, door facility fees, and late fees goes to the respective local government, while 40 percent goes to the provincial government.

 Real estate businessman Dinesh Kumar Chuke said that the land transactions appear higher in Chanauli due to cooperative in Kathmandu selling land to their shareholder members at cheap prices.

"The cooperatives in Kathmandu have sold land to depositors at low prices, which has increased the transactions there. Since they couldn't return the savings, the cooperatives sold the land," he said, noting that overall real estate transactions in the district were stagnant last fiscal year.

Chuke mentioned that stricter bank regulations on real estate investment, reduced use of remittance money for land transactions, and the economic downturn have led to the decline in real estate transactions.  He analyzed that real estate transactions have decreased by about 70 percent since fiscal year 2076/77.