Agricultural Land & Land-Use Conversion Checks

Agricultural land is a different purchase from a flat. Many states restrict who may buy it. Permission to convert it to a non-agricultural use is a further step, and a layout approval is yet another.

Under India’s foreign-exchange rules, purchase of agricultural land, plantation property, and farmhouses by non-residents is generally restricted. That position should be confirmed for the buyer’s actual status before anyone relies on it. We do not treat a broker’s assurance as the permission.

Laws and records vary by state. Khata, mutation, jamabandi, patta, and municipal extracts are not interchangeable, and the office that holds them changes with the city. The points below describe the work in general. The papers we ask for follow the property’s location, and the report names the source that was actually consulted.

What this covers

• How the land is classified in the revenue record
• Whether conversion has been granted, refused, or only applied for
• Layout, subdivision, or development permissions that the seller says exist
• Restrictions linked to the buyer’s status, including non-agriculturist and non-resident limits, at the level of a general check
• Conditions on a conversion order, such as use, period, or premium

Documents we typically need

• Revenue extracts showing classification
• The conversion order, application, or acknowledgement the seller holds
• Layout sanction and any condition letter
• The draft sale deed, especially clauses that say “conversion will be obtained”
• The buyer’s status, in general terms, so we know which restriction even applies

What you receive

• Whether the papers show agricultural land, converted land, or land in the middle of a process
• Conditions that still have to be met
• A plain statement if the buyer’s status appears to conflict with the land category
• What we could not verify because the order was not in the file

Common red flags

• A sale of agricultural land to a buyer who may be barred from holding it
• Conversion “under process” with no application number
• A layout drawn on paper that the planning authority has not sanctioned
• A farmhouse sold to a non-resident as if the restriction did not exist
• Premiums or conditions in an order that the price does not account for

Questions on this check