BANGALORE: The actual market value of one square foot of land on 11th Main in Jayanagar IV Block is Rs 40,000. But the guidance value fixed by the government is just Rs 11,000. All property transactions on this lane are registered on the guidance value – legally the right thing to do though it ends in substantially less money flowing into the government’s coffers.

This is just one example of how a government policy is costing the state dear.

The state chief minister lamented in his budget speech on July 12 that despite a hike in guidance value that came into effect in 2011-12, there has been no increase in revenue collections. Much of the blame for this has to be laid at the government’s doorstep.

The CM said: “Bangalore has a huge base for the real estate and property market. The growth in collection during this period did not keep pace even with the inflation rate. From this, it is evident that attention was not paid to containing evasion and leakage in stamps and registration transactions. The previous government’s initiative of Anytime Anywhere Registration hardly made an impact as there was no transparency.”

Adoni Syed Saleem, inspector general of registration and commissioner of stamps, admits that the department has failed to successfully implement the Anytime Anywhere Registration process, which was meant to curb corruption.

“It is true that we have not been able to avoid middlemen operating in sub-registrar offices. The project has not yielded success. I have not assessed the possible drawbacks. We are yet to come up with an action plan to set this right,” he informed STOI.

A senior official in the department admitted the problem lies in undervaluation of property by buyers – encouraged by the government.