KATHMANDU, April 6: Over the past year, land prices have increased only in Lalitpur and Bhaktapur across the country. In other districts, land prices have not risen. In most districts, land prices remain stable, and in some districts, they have even decreased. While prices have not increased, the highest land transactions were found in Jhapa, while the lowest transactions were in Manang, Dolpa, and Humla.
According to the spokesperson of the Department of Land Management, Ved Prasad Aryal, based on the revenue collected from 134 land registration offices operating across the country from mid-July to Falgun mid-February, an analysis by the department’s technical staff revealed that land prices have only increased in Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. In other districts, even though transactions increased, prices did not.
"Based on revenue collection, the highest revenue appears to have been collected from Kathmandu. In Kathmandu, land and property transactions, which are comparatively more expensive than in other districts, naturally generate more revenue," Aryal said, "However, regarding the rise in land prices, only Lalitpur and Bhaktapur can be considered. In these two districts, the prices did not increase for large plots, but small land parcels saw a rise in prices."
Aryal's analysis suggests that land prices have increased in Lalitpur and Bhaktapur in small proportions. He further mentioned that the trend of buying small land parcels in these districts might be the reason for the price increase.
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According to the data provided by the department, the highest revenue from Shrawan to Falgun was collected from the Lagankhel Land Registration Office in Lalitpur. Lalitpur has two land registration offices. From Lagankhel, Rs 2.6434 billion were collected, while from Gotikhola, Rs 3.92 million were collected.
Kathmandu has six land registration offices. Among them, the Dilli Bazar office collected Rs 1.972 billion, Kalanki collected Rs 1.817 billion, Chabahil collected Rs 1.799 billion, Sankhu collected Rs 666.8 million, Manamaiju collected Rs 576.2 million, and Tokha collected Rs 475.3 million in revenue.
The least revenue was collected from the Sirdibas Land Registration Office in Gorkha. In the past eight months, only Rs 729,879 were collected from Sirdibas, while from the Gorkha Land Registration Office, Rs 547.7 million were collected.
The Land Registration Offices in Khotang and Dolpa also collected very little revenue. Khotang collected Rs 984, 287, and Dolpa collected Rs 385,484.
According to the data provided by the department, the highest number of transactions took place at the Jhadrapur Jhapa Land Registration Office from Shrawan to Falgun. In this office, 51,832 transactions occurred in the past eight months. The second highest number of transactions occurred at the Inaruwa Land Registration Office in Sunsari.
This office recorded 32,722 transactions. Similarly, the third highest number of transactions took place at the Belbari Land Registration Office in Morang, which recorded 28,838 transactions. In Lagankhel, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur, 23,759 and 24,029 transactions occurred in the past eight months, respectively. Department's technical staff have speculated that the increase in land transactions in Jhapa might be due to the trend of migration from other districts.
According to the data provided by the department, the least number of transactions occurred in Manang, Dolpa, and Humla. In the past eight months, Manang had 112 transactions, Dolpa had 260, and Humla had 311 transactions.
According to the Department of Land Management, there are currently 11,467,382 landowners across the country. Of these, 6,983,851 are male landowners, making up 61 percent. On the other hand, there are 4,483,531 female landowners, accounting for 39. The department's data also shows that there are 32,847,632 plots of land in total. Of these, 22,024,170 plots are registered under male names, while 9,061,795 plots are registered under female names.
