Land conversion in Karnataka after the 2025 rules

Why conversion matters

Land recorded as agricultural is for farming. Using it for houses, shops or a layout needs conversion to non-agricultural use under section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964. A layout needs its land converted, or treated as converted under the new rules, before it can be approved, and plots on unconverted land usually end up with a B-khata.

What changed at the end of 2025

A draft of the Karnataka Land Revenue (Amendment) Rules, 2025 was published in September 2025, and the final rules were notified in December 2025; reports give 23 December 2025 as the day they took effect. Under them:

• Applications are online, backed by the owner’s affidavit in a set format.
• The Deputy Commissioner has a time limit. If a complete application is not decided within 30 days (30 working days in one report), the land is treated as converted: the application moves to the owner’s login, the owner pays the fee, and the system issues the conversion order.
• Inside an approved master plan, where the use you want matches the zone, no separate permission from the Deputy Commissioner is needed. The planning authority checks the details, collects the fee and issues a digitally signed conversion certificate, and the land is treated as converted with the layout or building approval.
• Small and agro-based industries on up to two acres, and renewable energy projects, do not need conversion.
• Misusing these relaxations carries a penalty of ₹1 lakh plus ₹2,500 for each day, recorded against the land in the RTC.

On 20 April 2026 the Revenue Commissionerate issued instructions for running these conversions online.

What a buyer should check

• The conversion order or certificate: its number and date, the survey number, the area converted and the purpose, such as residential.
• That the whole layout is covered: every survey number, and the full area of each.
• The RTC for each survey number, which should show the conversion and no penalty against the land.
• That the layout approval came after the conversion, or with it under the new rules.

If the land was never converted

Plots on unconverted land are usually recorded with a B-khata. The September 2026 order lets local body officers collect the conversion charges for eligible plots of up to 1,000 square metres so that they can get an A-khata; see Khata types.