NEW DELHI – The Indian government has decided to auction properties worthone trillion rupees of over 9,400 people, mostly Pakistani nationals,designating them as enemy properties on the pretext that these people haveleft the country.

The Indian home ministry has started the process of identifying theseproperties, officials said. The move came after the amendment of the49-year-old Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Act which ensuredthat the heirs of those who migrated to Pakistan and China during thepartition and afterwards will have no claim over the properties left behindin India.

At a recent meeting, Home Minister Rajnath Singh was informed that thesurvey of 6,289 enemy properties had been completed and that of theremaining 2,991 properties vested with the custodian would be completed, ahome ministry official told media.

Singh directed that those properties which were free from encumbranceshould be disposed of quickly for monetisation. The estimated value ofthese 9,400 properties is around Rs 1 lakh crore and when they are soldoff, it would be a huge windfall for the government, another official said.

Among the 9,280 properties left behind by Pakistani nationals, the highest4,991 properties are located in Uttar Pradesh followed by West Bengal whichhas 2,735 such estates. There are 487 such properties in Delhi. Among the126 properties left behind by Chinese nationals, the highest 57 are locatedin Meghalaya followed by West Bengal with 29. Assam has seven suchproperties.

According to the new Act, ‘enemy property’ refers to any property belongingto, held or managed on behalf of an enemy, an enemy subject or an enemyfirm.