Is this layout approved? HDUDA, HDMC and gram panchayat layouts

Who approves layouts

Inside a local planning area, the planning authority approves layouts under the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961. For the twin cities and the area around them, that is the Hubballi-Dharwad Urban Development Authority (HDUDA). The Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) keeps the khata and collects property tax for properties within the city limits.

Outside any local planning area, layouts follow the Karnataka Town and Country Planning (Development of Land in areas other than Local Planning Areas) Regulations, 2025, and news reports say the Deputy Commissioner gives the layout permission there.

What an approved layout has on paper

• A layout plan carrying the authority’s approval number, date and seal.
• An approval order listing the survey numbers and the number of plots.
• Land conversion for every survey number in the layout (see Land conversion).
• Roads, parks and civic amenity sites marked on the plan, to be handed over to the local body.
• Release orders for the plots that may be sold.

How plots are released

Approval comes in stages. The plan is approved first; the developer then builds roads, drains and water and power lines, and the authority releases plots for sale as the works are done. Until then some plots stay mortgaged to the authority as security. Ask which plots have been released, and get a copy of the release order that covers yours.

The 2025 regulations for areas outside planning areas spell this out: the developer may sell 40% of the plots in the first stage and the rest in the second, must finish the works within three years (one more year for a fee), and can lose the mortgaged corner and middle plots to the local authority if the works are not done within four years of the sanction.

Check it yourself

1. Note the approval number and date from the plan, and ask the authority’s office whether they match its records.
2. Check that the survey numbers on the approval match the RTC and the conversion order.
3. Walk the layout with the plan in hand: the roads, the park, the civic amenity site and your plot’s size and position should match.
4. Ask HDMC or the gram panchayat what kind of khata the plot has, or will get.
5. If the layout is larger than 500 square metres and inside a planning area, look for it on the K-RERA website (see K-RERA for plot buyers).

Unapproved layouts

Plots in unapproved layouts usually end up with a B-khata, can be hard to borrow against or build on, and can face action from the planning authority. Since September 2026 there is a route for B-khata plots of up to 1,000 square metres to get an A-khata by paying conversion charges, a regularisation fee and penalties; see Khata types. Regularising later costs money and time, so ask before you buy.