The Uttarakhand Assembly on Friday passed an amendment to its land law effectively banning persons from outside the state from purchasing agricultural and horticultural land in 11 of the state’s 13 districts, The Indian Express reported.

The Uttarakhand (Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition And Land Reforms Act, 1950) Amendment Bill, 2025, will not be applicable in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts. However, even there, the sale of land will need the state government’s approval instead of a district-level authorisation, the Hindustan Times reported.

The amended land law will continue to allow non-residents of the state to purchase less than 250 sq metres of land only for residential use. However, they will be required to submit an affidavit stating that neither they, nor their family have made such a purchase of residential land elsewhere in the state.

The amendment also removes the provision from the original Act that allowed the transfer of more than 12.5 acres of excess land to anyone for purposes such as tourism, industry and agriculture, among other uses.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that since 2018, a total of 1,883 land purchase deals were approved for purposes such as industrial activities, tourism, education, healthcare, agriculture and horticulture. However, 599 of these deals involved land use violations, he said.

Legal action was initiated in 572 of these cases and proceedings have completed in 16 matters, resulting in 9.4 hectares of land being returned to the state government, the chief minister said.

“A strict land law was absolutely necessary to protect the cultural heritage of Devbhoomi, seeking a balance between environment and economy and protecting the rights of the common people,” he said after the Assembly cleared the draft legislation.

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