The Chief Minister's Office of Gujarat announced on Monday, 22 June 2026 that Gujarat has ranked first in the country in the second phase of the PM Svamitva Yojana, with the state accounting for more than half of all property cards issued nationally under the programme.

Context

The post, shared by the CMO Gujarat official account, states that through 14,900 drone flights, a total of 11,511 villages across Gujarat have been accurately mapped and promulgated, resulting in the preparation of a record 18.50 lakh-plus property cards — more than 50 per cent of the total cards issued across India in Phase 2. The announcement was made under the hashtag #GujaratGauravGatha (Gujarat's story of pride).

The post credits Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel's guidance for Gujarat's leading position, describing the Svamitva scheme as a 'game changer' for rural India. It also acknowledges the broader rural empowerment agenda pursued by the central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the past 12 years.

Policy Backdrop

The PM Svamitva Yojana was launched by the Government of India on 24 April 2020 under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, initially as a pilot in six states before a nationwide rollout in 2021. The scheme uses drone technology to survey inhabited land in villages, issue legal property cards (adhikar abhilekh), and thereby formalise ownership rights that were previously undocumented.

The programme sits within a wider policy framework of technology-enabled land record modernisation that the central government has pursued since 2014, including the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme. Formalising rural property rights is seen as a prerequisite for integrating village households into formal credit markets.

Stakeholders and Impact

According to the CMO Gujarat post, property card holders in the state can now access bank loans of up to ₹50 lakh by using their cards as collateral — a facility previously unavailable to rural residents who lacked legally recognised title documents. This credit access is expected to stimulate rural economic activity and entrepreneurship.

Village panchayats and rural landowners are the primary beneficiaries. Clearer property records also reduce long-standing land disputes in villages, lowering the burden on local courts and administrative bodies. The initiative aligns with the central government's vision of a 'digital and self-reliant rural India' (digital aur aatmanirbhar gramin Bharat), as described in the post.

What's Next

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has set a target of completing drone surveys across more than 6 lakh villages nationwide. Gujarat's reported performance in Phase 2 is likely to be cited as a benchmark as other states scale up their own survey operations.

Observers will watch for state-level data on the volume of loans actually sanctioned against Svamitva property cards, which will be a practical measure of whether the credit-access benefit is being realised on the ground. Progress on integrating the property card database with other government welfare delivery systems will also be a key indicator of the programme's long-term impact.