Aadhaar-style IDs coming for every land parcel in Capital

New Delhi: In a major push towards digitising land governance in the national capital, the Delhi government has announced that every parcel of land in the city will soon receive its own unique identification number, akin to an Aadhaar card for property. The initiative, titled ‘Bhu-Aadhaar’, will assign a 14-digit Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) to each landholding, aiming to eliminate boundary disputes and bring unprecedented transparency to land records.

Announcing the initiative, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta described it as a transformative reform. She said the system is “not merely a number but a powerful digital instrument against corruption and land disputes,” adding that it marks “a revolutionary step towards realising the Prime Minister’s Digital India vision on the ground.”

Under the project, the IT Branch of the Revenue Department has been tasked with implementation, with technical support from the Survey of India. The move aligns with the Government of India’s land record modernisation programme introduced in 2016 by the Ministry of Rural Development and the Department of Land Resources, which had not been fully implemented in Delhi until now.

The Chief Minister said the government would execute the project in “mission mode,” stressing that the need for such a system had long been felt in the capital. The 14-digit ULPIN will be georeferenced, ensuring precise identification of land parcels and minimising disputes related to boundaries and ownership.

Highlighting the benefits, Gupta said the system would ensure “complete transparency in land ownership” and facilitate coordination among various government departments. It is also expected to curb fraudulent transactions and prevent multiple registrations of the same property.

Advanced technology is being deployed for the initiative. Nearly 2 terabytes of high-resolution geospatial data and drone-based Ortho Rectified Images (ORI) are being sourced from the Survey of India to generate accurate land maps. The system will cover all areas of Delhi, including 48 villages already mapped under the SVAMITVA scheme.

A pilot project has already been completed in Tilangpur Kotla village in West Delhi, where 274 ULPIN records were successfully generated. The government has previously allocated Rs.13.207 million for the project and plans to expand it citywide in phases under a defined Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

Reiterating the broader vision behind the reform, the Chief Minister said, “The Prime Minister’s vision is to ensure that the benefits of technology reach the last person in society in a transparent manner.” She added that

integrated and modern land records form the foundation of a developed India and are essential to securing citizens’ property rights.

With Bhu-Aadhaar, the Delhi Government aims to ensure that every inch of land in the capital has a secure, dispute-free digital identity.