Mumbai: The state cabinet, chaired by CM Devendra Fadnavis, on Tuesday approved an amendment to the Maharashtra Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1947, lifting restrictions on division of land in urban and certain regional plan areas. The decision also allows for free regularisation of past land transactions that contravene this law.Under the amendment, the fragmentation law will no longer apply to lands within the limits of municipal corporations, municipal councils, and nagar panchayats, as well as in areas under the jurisdiction of metropolitan region development authorities and special planning authorities established under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966. This includes land allocated in regional plans for residential, commercial, industrial, or any other non-agricultural use.As a result, approximately 49 lakh land fragments in the state are set to be regularised giving relief to those who bought or sold non-agricultural plots in urban, semi urban or rural clusters. Only 10,489 applications for regularisation of such sub-standard plots have been filed so far.The original fragmentation law was enacted to prevent the division of agricultural holdings into uneconomic parcels and to promote profitable farming through land consolidation. However, in urban and planned development areas, it focused on housing, commercial, and industrial development, said a state govt release.Officials observed that the law was creating significant hurdles in urban development projects, complicating ownership rights, and causing difficulties in maintaining land records and extract updates. After reviewing the issue comprehensively, the cabinet decided to amend the legislation.Once enacted, the amendment will ensure that lands earmarked or used genuinely for residential, commercial, industrial, public, or semi-public non-agricultural purposes will be exempt from the fragmentation restrictions. Thus, any prior division or transfer of such lands will be deemed legally regularised without any additional fees. This one-time regularisation aims to provide relief to landowners whose property transactions were unknowingly conducted in violation of the law. It will also help resolve long-pending disputes, clear errors in land measurement and revenue records, and allow citizens to legally use, transfer, or sell their plots, said the govt release.