What DC conversion is
Agricultural land in Karnataka can be used only for farming until its use is changed. That change is called land conversion, or DC conversion, because the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the district has traditionally granted it under Section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964. You will also hear it called an NA (non-agricultural) order.
Conversion matters to anyone who wants to build a house, form a layout, open a business or sell plots on farm land. A plot on unconverted land is still farm land in the eyes of the law, whatever the seller calls it. Banks will not normally lend on it as a house plot, and the local body cannot give it a proper khata.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
The conversion rules were reworked in 2025. The main points, as reported by the Revenue Department and law firms:
- Karnataka Land Revenue (Amendment) Rules, 2025, notified in September 2025, added new rules on conversion, with online filing, digitally signed certificates and fixed processing timelines.
- Inside approved master plan areas, where the planned use matches the zoning, the land no longer needs a separate prior permission from the DC. The planning authority checks the details, collects the fee and issues the conversion certificate.
- In the Greater Bengaluru master plan area, the state has gone further: conversion is folded into building or layout plan approval, so the owner applies for the plan and the land is treated as converted through it.
- Outside master plan areas, the DC still decides, within a fixed time, with a deemed approval if the office does not act in time. Ask the DC office for the current timeline, because the reported figures have differed between the draft and the final rules.
- Small industry and renewable energy. Reports say land up to two acres for a new small industry, and land for approved renewable energy projects, no longer needs conversion in the usual way.
- Misuse is penalised. Using land against the conversion terms can lead to cancellation, forfeiture of the fee and fines.
These are big changes, and offices are still applying them unevenly. Treat the old route and the new route as two possibilities, and ask which one applies to your survey number before you start.
Do you need conversion at all?
Ask three questions.
- Is the land inside a master plan area? Check the zoning on the master plan of the local planning authority or urban development authority. If the land is zoned residential, commercial or industrial and you are applying for a plan, conversion may come through the plan approval.
- What does the zoning say? Land zoned agricultural, green belt or buffer cannot be converted for housing by the master plan route. A conversion against the zoning is usually refused.
- Is it already converted? Many sellers say land is converted when only part of it is, or when only an application was filed. Ask for the order and check it.
The steps
The online application is filed through the land conversion service on the state's Bhoomi land records site, where you can also track its status and download final orders. The usual sequence:
- Confirm that the applicant's name is on the current RTC and that the mutation is complete.
- Get the survey sketch for the exact area to be converted. If you are converting part of a survey number, it must be measured first.
- Check the zoning on the master plan, if there is one.
- File the application with the documents below and a notarised affidavit in the prescribed form.
- The application goes for reports from the taluk office and, where needed, other departments. They check title, tenancy, government land, water bodies, roads and acquisition.
- Pay the conversion fee when it is demanded.
- Receive the conversion order or certificate, then check that the land records show the change.
Documents usually asked for
- Current RTC and the mutation register extract
- Survey sketch of the land to be converted (often called the pre-conversion sketch)
- Title deeds showing how the applicant came to hold the land
- Master plan or zonal extract, where the land is in a planning area
- Khata extract, if the land falls inside a local body's limits
- Notarised affidavit in the prescribed form
- Identity proof of the applicant
Some cases need more: no-objection letters where land is near a highway, railway, airport, forest or water body, or permission where the land was granted by the government. The taluk office will tell you which apply.
What officials check
Conversion is refused or delayed most often for the same few reasons:
- The name on the RTC does not match the applicant, or a mutation is pending.
- The land is government land, granted land with a bar on sale, or includes B-kharab (roads, tanks, streams, grazing land).
- The land, or part of it, is notified for acquisition.
- The use asked for does not match the master plan zoning.
- There is a court case or revenue dispute on the survey number.
- The land is under tenancy or has an unsettled old claim.
Clearing these before you apply saves months. If you are buying land to convert, these are also the checks to do before you pay. See every paper to check before buying land.
How long it takes and what it costs
Under the old process, conversion often took months. The 2025 rules set fixed timelines and a deemed approval when an office does not decide in time. How quickly a file moves in practice still depends on the district and on whether the papers are clean.
The conversion fee is set by the state and depends on the location, the area and the use you ask for. Land near a city or inside a planning area costs more to convert than remote rural land. We have not stated a figure here because the schedule has changed and differs by area. Ask the DC office, the planning authority, or ask us for the current figure for your survey number.
Budget also for the survey and sketch, the affidavit, any no-objection letters, and a lawyer's fee if the title needs work.
After conversion
Conversion is one step, not the end.
- Check the record. The conversion should be reflected in the land records. Download the order from the Bhoomi site and match the survey number, hissa number and area.
- Use it as ordered. A conversion for residential use does not allow a factory. Using land against the order can lead to cancellation.
- Layout approval comes next. To sell plots, converted land still needs a layout plan approved by the planning authority or, in villages outside planning areas, by the gram panchayat with prior design approval. See layout approvals in Karnataka.
- Khata follows approval. Individual plots get a khata from the local body only after the layout is approved. See A-khata, B-khata and e-khata.
A conversion order is not a layout approval. Plots sold on converted land without an approved layout are a common trap: the land is converted, but the sites are not legal plots.
Checking a conversion order before you buy
If you are buying converted land or a plot, ask for the conversion order and check:
- The order number, date and the officer who issued it.
- That the survey number, hissa number and area match the land you are buying, and that your plot falls inside the converted area.
- The permitted use: residential, commercial or industrial.
- That the order appears on the land records site, not only on paper.
- That any conditions in the order, such as paying the fee within a time, were met.
If you are buying coffee or plantation land to convert, read converting coffee or farm land in Chikkamagaluru as well.
How we help
We handle conversion for landowners: the title and revenue checks first, then the application, the follow-up and the record update. For buyers, we check that a conversion order is genuine and covers the plot. See our documentation service, or look at our Kempegowda Layout in Mudigere, which is on DC-converted land with an approved layout plan.
