Jammu: In a major expose, Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) incurred expenditure of Rs 100.14 crore on hiring private vehicles from 2023-24 to August 2026, while enforcement of real-estate regulation in Udhampur has so far resulted in 14 inspections, 11 notices to developers and registration of just one real-estate agent and one project, according to government replies placed before the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
The figures are contained in separate replies to questions raised by Ranbir Singh Pathania, MLA from Udhampur East, and provide a snapshot of expenditure, outsourcing and regulatory enforcement across two departments.
According to the Housing and Urban Development Department's reply on JMC, the civic body spent Rs 27.75 crore in 2023-24, Rs 31.73 crore in 2024-25, Rs 31.20 crore in 2025-26, and Rs 9.47 crore during 2026-27 up to August 2026 on hiring private vehicles. The cumulative expenditure comes to Rs 100.14 crore.
The reply also lists four private vendors/NGO firms engaged by JMC since 2023 for civil works, sanitation and related services. Separately, the corporation has an arrangement with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) for installation and maintenance of street lights, with the document putting the contract value at Rs 100 crore for the 2020-2027 period.
The government reply further states that JMC has outsourced manpower through NGOs. Its category-wise table records 59 highly skilled, 395 skilled and 2,324 unskilled personnel, with daily rates of Rs 552, Rs 483 and Rs 311, respectively. It says the engaged employees are enrolled under biometric verification and EPF/ESIC compliance.
The response also discloses expenditure incurred on SANJY since 2023. The expenditure was Rs 63.13 lakh in 2023-24, Rs 2.03 crore in 2024-25, Rs 5.58 crore in 2025-26 and Rs 2.45 crore in 2026-27 up to August, taking the total to Rs 10.69 crore. The government, however, noted that the audit reports for 2020-24 did not separately reflect SANJY expenditure.
On parking, the JMC annexure lists road-side parking contracts at Apsara Road, Gandhi Nagar and Maharaja Hari Singh Park, besides the multi-level parking facility at Panjtirthi. The Panjtirthi facility was outsourced through e-tender for a total amount of Rs 75.5555 lakh, according to the annexure.
RERA enforcement in J & K (especially Udhampur)
In a separate reply from the Revenue Department concerning implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, the government said the Jammu and Kashmir Real Estate Regulatory Authority (JKRERA) has an online mechanism for registration of real-estate agents under Section 9 of the Act.
For Udhampur district, JKRERA reported that its team conducted 14 inspections and issued 11 notices to developers, directing them to register their projects with the authority. During proceedings before the Authority, one real-estate agent was also directed to register himself.
Despite these enforcement actions, the government's reply records that only one real-estate agent and one real-estate project from Udhampur were registered with JKRERA, with the requisite registration certificates issued.
The Revenue Department also made clear that no proposal is presently under consideration for mandatory digital or online routing of payments for real-estate transactions or commission payments.
At the same time, the government said the existing system for revising circle/market-value rates is already operational. Rates are revised annually under the Jammu and Kashmir Preparation and Revision of Market Guidelines Rules, 2011, and the notified rates are published on district websites and incorporated digitally into the NGDRS property-registration portal.
This raises serious question mark on various land deals and a horde of property Dealers operating in Udhampur.
