Distortions in Land Markets and their Implications to Credit Generation in India

Land and buildings are a preferred collateral for lenders in India due to its ease of valuation and disposal in the event of default. Yet several distortions afflict Indian land markets that make this exercise non-trivial. These distortions - some structural, some regulatory and some information driven - are costly and have far reaching implications on credit availability as lenders adopt conservative policies ex-ante to mitigate these costs. Some of these distortions in the Indian land markets are examined in this paper and their significance is highlighted to the current debate on reforming bankruptcy framework in India.