Policy Update
Annika Saigal
Background
The Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP) is a Government of India initiative launched in 2016 to modernise land record management, improve transparency in the maintenance of land records, and reduce the scope for land and property disputes.
Within India, land administration is distributed across several institutions. Revenue departments maintain Records of Rights (RoR) and maps, registration departments handle deeds, and the courts hear disputes.
The National Land Records Modernisation Programme (NLRMP) was launched in 2008 to digitise land records and improve land-record management. But, its implementation faced various obstacles such as incomplete integration of textual land records with cadastral maps, delays in land surveys and resurvey, inadequate coordination between property registration and mutation processes, and uneven implementation across states.
Its broader objective of transitioning towards conclusive land titling also remained unfulfilled. Hence, this scheme was later revamped as the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP), a Central Sector Scheme with 100% central funding from 1 April 2016. The scheme was extended from 2021–22 to 2025–26 with an outlay of ₹875 crore. The extended scheme included, among other components, computerisation of revenue courts and consent-based Aadhaar linking with Records of Rights (RoR).
According to the PRS summary of the Standing Committee report, as of January 2026, the Committee noted that several components remained incomplete across states, including modern record rooms, surveys and re-surveys, and the integration of textual land records with digitised spatial maps. The report recommended that these activities should be completed within defined timelines and that the next phase of the programme should be operationalised.
DILRMP 3.0 seeks to target these remaining gaps by integrating land records, maps, registration data, and court-related information. On 10 September 2026, Union Minister for Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the operational guidelines at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi. The scheme also has an outlay of ₹565.50 crore and full central funding for 2026–2031.
Functioning
The implementation of DILRMP 3.0 is being carried out by the Department of Land Resources. It marks a shift from digitising individual records towards building an integrated system, which the Department describes as Digital Public Infrastructure for land.
The core architecture for DILRMP 3.0 rests on four elements:
- Land Stack: Each state will build a GIS-enabled Land Stack linking georeferenced cadastral maps, RoR, registrations, and court matters through APIs. These will form a federated National Land Stack in which states retain the ownership of data.
- Bhu-Aadhaar (ULPIN): The scheme envisages a 14-digit Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) for each land parcel, alongside the georeferencing of cadastral maps. ULPIN identifies a parcel; it does not, by itself, establish indefeasible legal ownership.
- Registration Reform: Selected high-footfall Sub-Registrar Offices (specifically, 75 SROs upgraded with an outlay of ₹37.5 crore) are expected to become Registration Seva Kendras (RSKs), with digital queue management modelled on Passport Seva Kendras. A Registration Repository is also envisaged to hold deeds and encumbrance information.
- Legacy Records and Courts: The scheme includes scanning historical land and registration records, linking the Revenue Court Case Management System (RCCMS) to land records, and accelerating the NAKSHA urban mapping pilot to issue Urban Property Cards. These are intended programme components; their implementation and outcomes will need to be assessed over time.
These four elements are intended to create a more integrated and accessible land record management system. For instance, Digitised historical records and the Registration Repository would facilitate verification of past transactions and encumbrances, while Registration Seva Kendras would streamline registration procedures. Collectively, these measures aim to reduce discrepancies, improve transparency and enable citizens and authorities to access interconnected land information more efficiently, subject to successful implementation across states. (Press Information Bureau, 2026)
On financing, funds are to be released in phases according to performance and monitored through a real-time Management Information System (MIS) dashboard. Disbursal is routed through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), with progress overseen by the Project Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee.
Performance
It is imperative to note that DILRMP 3.0 was launched in September 2026, so it is too early to assess its outcomes. This section therefore references the administrative outputs of the earlier phases on which this new phase builds.
The Standing Committee’s January 2026 data shows that 99.8% of Records of Rights had been computerised, 97.4% of cadastral maps digitised, 95.7% of Sub-Registrar Offices computerised, and 88.6% of registration offices integrated with revenue offices. (By the September 2026 launch, administrative metrics cited by the Ministry updated these slightly to 99.9% for RoRs and 99% for SROs).
Progress was weaker on more complex components. The Committee reported that modern record rooms were at 72.5% and that auto-triggered mutation, where registration automatically generates a mutation request, had been implemented in 17 states. These figures describe the status reported to the Committee, not necessarily the current position in every state.
On the spatial side, the Department of Land Resources’ programme page reports that cadastral maps had been georeferenced for 3,26,776 of 6,57,397 villages (~49.71%). The page’s stated percentage does not reconcile precisely with these counts, and the date of the figures is unclear. They should therefore be treated cautiously rather than as a current estimate of progress. The figures still illustrate the scale of the georeferencing challenge associated with the ULPIN rollout.
The announced outlays can also be compared on a simple annualised basis. The ₹875 crore extension over five years equates to ₹175 crore per year, while ₹565.50 crore over five years equates to ₹113.10 crore per year. This is a lower nominal annualised outlay for DILRMP 3.0, although the comparison does not establish actual expenditure or whether the two phases have comparable funding needs.
Impact
At this early stage, the expected positives of DILRMP 3.0 should be distinguished from outcomes that have been independently measured. The Department says that integrated records are expected to help farmers obtain institutional credit more easily, reduce visits to government offices, make historical records more accessible for inheritance-related claims, and reduce revenue-court pendency and mutation delays. These remain programme objectives, not evidence of a measured reduction in disputes.
The evidence also calls for caution since a 2026 paper describes a “digital land paradox”: it reports that around 98.5% of rural Records of Rights had been computerised by 2024, while land disputes persisted because Indian land records generally provide presumptive rather than conclusive evidence of title (Acharya & Karthika, 2026). This figure comes from the paper and may use a different reporting date or definition from the Standing Committee’s 99.8% figure; the two should not be treated as directly comparable without checking their underlying datasets.
Digitisation can improve access to records and administrative efficiency, but it does not by itself guarantee ownership or end litigation.
The Committee also highlighted potential distributional effects. PRS Legislative Research reports a recommendation to alert registered owners whenever a transaction or mutation request is filed. Such alerts could help owners identify unauthorised transactions or mutation requests, although their effectiveness would depend on reliable contact information, timely delivery, and accessible grievance redress.
Emerging Issues
There are several issues which could potentially limit the effectiveness of DILRMP 3.0:
- Presumptive Title: Title remains presumptive. According to the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, ULPIN operates within India’s presumptive titling system and does not change how ownership is legally established. PRS has similarly argued that a registered property title system would need to become the primary evidence of ownership and that digitisation addresses this issue only partially. Since land is a state subject, uniform adoption of conclusive titling may be difficult.
- Risk of Exclusion: Linking records to identity databases and parcels to unique identifiers can disadvantage people with informal or collective claims if those claims are not accurately represented. A researcher quoted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation warned that Aadhaar-linked land records require extreme caution because they could exclude pastoral communities and people who use land seasonally or collect common forest produce. The report also raised concerns that women, Dalits, and Indigenous communities could be shut out. DAKSH notes that land records alone may be insufficient for people with legally recognised rights, including forest dwellers under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, to establish or enforce their claims. The Committee also flagged the difficulties of digitisation in Sixth Schedule areas, where community ownership and customary practices are important.
- Legacy Errors: As of late, qualitative research based on fieldwork in Talasari and Chiplun in Maharashtra warns that digitising outdated or fragmented records can entrench existing errors and deepen injustice (Sekher et al., 2026). Because the study covers two locations, its findings are not nationally representative.
- Data Protection & Governance: DAKSH also argues that database integration requires transparent privacy safeguards, security measures, and grievance-redress mechanisms. A federated Land Stack that connects databases through APIs makes robust access controls and safeguards particularly important. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, is relevant to this discussion, but its provisions have staggered commencement; any claim about applicable legal duties should be checked against the relevant commencement notifications.
Way Forward
The Standing Committee’s recommendations provide a clear as well as credible agenda for the long term. They include nationwide auto-triggered online mutation, timelines for disposing of mutation and correction cases, completion of modern record rooms, and legal recognition of digitally signed Records of Rights across states. The Committee also called for a dedicated strategy for Sixth Schedule areas, developed with Autonomous District Councils and traditional institutions, and an evaluation of the NAKSHA pilot before expansion.
Beyond these recommendations, the analysis points to five priorities which are-
- Prioritise surveys and re-surveys: In areas where cadastral records are materially inaccurate or incomplete, resolve these problems before or alongside ULPIN implementation. Experts quoted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation warned that hurried implementation without addressing legacy issues could undermine trust and increase disputes.
- A path to conclusive titling: Develop a state-led pathway towards conclusive titling, drawing on NITI Aayog’s 2019 Model Conclusive Land Titling Act and Rules, with state-level pilots and appropriate legal safeguards. The model act is a proposed reform, not a nationwide title-guarantee system.
- Community and forest rights in the Land Stack: Forest Rights Act titles and community claims should be represented clearly in the system so that integration does not erase or obscure them. This is an analytical recommendation informed by the concerns which have been discussed above.
- Binding safeguards: Privacy rules, appropriate consent protocols, security measures, and grievance-redress procedures should be clearly specified and enforceable.
- Transparent monitoring: Funding which is performance linked in nature is much more credible when state-wise MIS data is publicly available and progress is independently evaluated.
References
- Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. (2026, September 10). Union Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan launches operational guidelines for DILRMP 3.0. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2308966&lang=2®=48
- Tech Observer. (2026, September 11). Digital India: Centre launches DILRMP 3.0 with ₹565 crore for land digitisation. https://techobserver.in/news/egov/dilrmp-3-land-records-digitisation-bhu-aadhaar-328937/
- PRS Legislative Research. (2026). Implementation of the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP): Standing Committee report summary. https://prsindia.org/files/policy/policy_committee_reports/SCR_Summary_Implementation_of_DILRMP.pdf
- Department of Land Resources, Government of India. (n.d.). Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP). https://dolr.gov.in/programmes-schemes/dilrmp-2/
- Deccan Herald / Thomson Reuters Foundation. (2021). India’s digital IDs for land could exclude poor, indigenous communities. https://www.deccanherald.com/india/indias-digital-ids-for-land-could-exclude-poor-indigenous-communities-969081.html
- Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. (2025, July 25). Is land digitisation enough? https://vidhilegalpolicy.in/blog/is-land-digitisation-enough/
- Mishra, P., & Suhag, R. (2018, September 10). Modernizing land records in India. PRS Legislative Research. https://prsindia.org/articles-by-prs-team/opinion-modernizing-land-records-in-india
- DAKSH. (2021). Linking of land records and e-courts. https://www.dakshindia.org/linking-of-land-records-and-e-courts/
- Sekher, M., Menokhono, Pritchard, B., Vikas, S., & Aulakh, B. S. (2026). Beyond digitization: The need for inclusive co-governance in reforming Indian land administration. Land, 15(8), 1351. https://doi.org/10.3390/land15081351
- Acharya, A., & Karthika, S. D. (2026). The digital land paradox: Digitisation, title certainty and the persistence of land disputes in India. Indian Journal of Contemporary Legal and Social Issues, 3(1), 162–181. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22810296
- NITI Aayog. (2019). Model Conclusive Land Titling Act & Rules. https://www.niti.gov.in/node/393
- Government of India. (2023). The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (Act No. 22 of 2023). India Code. https://www.indiacode.nic.in/indiacode/handle/123456789/22037?view_type=browse
- Government of India. (2026). Union Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan launches operational guidelines for DILRMP 3.0. Press Information Bureau. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2308966®=48&lang=2
About the Contributor
Annika Saigal is a Research and Editorial Intern at IMPRI. She is currently pursuing a B.A. (Honours) in Political Science, with a minor in Economics, at Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi.
Acknowledgement
The author extends her sincere gratitude to the IMPRI team for its guidance and constructive feedback throughout the process.
Reviewed by: Aditya Chavan and Pritha Chowdhury
Disclaimer
All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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