In a marked shift in the way land belonging to the defence ministry is used, it has been decided that transactions in defence lands will be treated as capital receipts. Also, in order to cash in on the value of the real estate held by the defence ministry in metros and big towns, shops located on its land will be made to pay rents at market rates from now on.

Both the finance and defence ministries have approved these proposals, which are part of a report filed by a committee set up by the ministry of defence to examine the utilisation of its land bank. Headed by ...