Easily the most ambitious e-governance project yet, it can make sifting through land records and making alterations as simple here as it is in Japan. The project entails computerisation of all land records in the state - that is 3.67 crore plots across 42,000 villages, covering nearly 89,000 square kilometres.

Though a few southern states have plots on map, they are not to scale. A few other states like Maharashtra and Karnataka have digitised plots for a few towns and cities. But West Bengal is attempting to be the first to digitise all plots in the state.

"The job at hand is unprecedented in the country. It is a huge challenge and will not be easy to execute. But we are determined to see it through," land reforms commissioner and department principal secretary Sukumar Das said.

Land & land reforms minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah has written to his counterpart in the Union rural development ministry, seeking Rs 20 crore to fund the project.

An approval is expected soon. Till then, however, the department is not sitting on the dream. Initial work has already begun.