Auctions replace the lottery
In August 2026 the state approved allotting government land to cooperative housing societies again, a process suspended since 2010, according to Free Press Journal and other reports that month. Land will be auctioned rather than allotted by lottery. District collectors are to identify plots and invite bids, and the highest bidder wins.
No Government Resolution number had been published with the reports we found. Until it is, treat the details below as reported terms, and read the GR before any society commits money.
The base price and the lease
The base price is reported as 2.5% of market value in Mumbai and 5% elsewhere, which includes Nashik. On land with a market value of Rs 1 crore, a Nashik bid would open at Rs 5 lakh, and competition decides where it closes.
The land comes on a 30-year lease, convertible to Occupant Class-I after the lease ends. It is not a sale. A society that wins a plot holds a lease, and its members' flats sit on leased land for that period. Banks look at lease terms when they lend against a flat, so read them before anyone pays a share contribution.
Who can bid
Only registered cooperative housing societies can bid. An individual cannot buy into the auction directly. Reports list reservations for groups including government employees, scheduled castes and tribes, journalists, artists and defence personnel, without the full rules.
If someone offers you a flat in such a society
Ask for the auction notice, the allotment letter from the collector, the lease deed and its registration. A society that claims government land but cannot produce the lease has not got it yet, whatever it says.
Check the society's registration with the District Deputy Registrar of cooperative societies, and read its bye-laws on membership and contributions. If the society is building more than eight units on more than 500 square metres, the project needs MahaRERA registration before units are sold, under the RERA Act. Search it on maharera.maharashtra.gov.in.
How the money should move
A promoter or society building flats for sale cannot take more than 10% of the cost before a registered agreement for sale, and must keep 70% of members' money in a separate account for the project's construction and land. Pay by bank transfer to the account named in the agreement, never in cash.
Stamp duty on the agreement follows the normal rates: 5% under the Stamp Act inside a municipal corporation, plus surcharges that take most Nashik city purchases to 6% or 7%. Ask the sub-registrar what applies to a flat on leased government land before you budget.
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