On this page
- What Are Land Measurement Units, and Which Ones Does India Use?
- What Are the Standard Land Units: Square Foot, Gaj, Square Metre, Acre and Hectare?
- Land Measurement Units Conversion Chart: Sq Ft, Sq Yd, Sq M, Acre and Hectare
- What Do Bigha, Katha, Guntha, Cent, Kanal, Marla and Ground Mean?
- Which Land Measurement Units Are Used in Each Region of India?
- How Do You Convert Between Land Measurement Units, Step by Step?
- Which Unit Is Valid in Land Records and Sale Deeds?
- How Do You Measure a Plot, Including an Irregular One?
- How Do Carpet, Built-Up and Super Built-Up Area Relate to Land Units?
- How Do You Compare Land Prices Quoted in Different Units?
- What Unit Mistakes Cause Land Disputes?
- Sq ft, sq yd, sq m, acre and hectare have fixed values.
- Bigha, katha and biswa change by state.
- Karnataka records farmland in acres and guntha; Bengaluru sites are sold in sq ft.
- Convert through one base unit, sq ft or sq m.
- Write the area in sq ft or sq m into the agreement.
Land measurement units are the area units that describe a plot or farm. In India, one plot can be quoted in sq ft by a broker, in acres and guntha on a Karnataka RTC, and in bigha up north.
What Are Land Measurement Units, and Which Ones Does India Use?
India uses two groups of land measurement units: standard units with fixed sizes, and traditional units such as bigha, guntha and cent that vary by region.
Area units come from length units; the Punjab karam (5.5 ft) produced the marla and kanal.
What Are the Standard Land Units: Square Foot, Gaj, Square Metre, Acre and Hectare?
Standard land units have exact definitions, valid in every state.
- Square foot (sq ft): the unit for urban plots and flats.
- Square yard (sq yd), or gaj: 9 sq ft. In north Indian land talk, gaj means square yard.
- Square metre (sq m): 10.7639 sq ft, common in government records.
- Acre: 43,560 sq ft or 4,046.86 sq m. A football pitch is about 1.76 acres.
- Hectare (ha): 10,000 sq m, about 2.471 acres. An "are" is 100 sq m, so 1 ha = 100 ares.
Land Measurement Units Conversion Chart: Sq Ft, Sq Yd, Sq M, Acre and Hectare
Read each row as "1 unit equals".
Standard land unit conversions
Rounded; acre and hectare values are exact definitions| 1 unit | Sq ft | Sq yd | Sq m | Acre | Hectare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square foot | 1 | 0.111 | 0.0929 | 0.000023 | 0.0000093 |
| Square yard (gaj) | 9 | 1 | 0.8361 | 0.000207 | 0.0000836 |
| Square metre | 10.7639 | 1.196 | 1 | 0.000247 | 0.0001 |
| Acre Key unit | 43,560 | 4,840 | 4,046.86 | 1 | 0.4047 |
| Hectare | 107,639 | 11,960 | 10,000 | 2.4711 | 1 |
What Do Bigha, Katha, Guntha, Cent, Kanal, Marla and Ground Mean?
Traditional land measurement units are local units older than the metric system. Some are fixed fractions of an acre; others change by state.
Traditional units with a fixed value
Values as commonly used in each region| Unit | Main regions | Sq ft | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guntha (gunta) | Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana | 1,089 | 33 × 33 ft; 40 per acre |
| Cent | Kerala, Tamil Nadu, coastal Karnataka; "decimal" in the east | 435.6 | 100 per acre |
| Ground | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | 2,400 | About 5.51 cents |
| Kanal | Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, J&K | 5,445 | 8 per acre; 20 marla |
| Marla Varies locally | Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, J&K | 272.25 | Some areas use about 225 sq ft |
The bigha has no national value. A bigha usually splits into 20 biswa (or katha), and a biswa into 20 biswansi, so these vary too.
One bigha by state, in sq ft
Sources disagree in several states; confirm locally| State | Bigha (sq ft) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| West Bengal, Assam | 14,400 | Consistent |
| Madhya Pradesh | 12,000 | 20 katha of 600 sq ft |
| Himachal Pradesh | 8,712 | 5 bigha per acre |
| Rajasthan | 27,225 / 17,424 | Pucca / kachha bigha |
| Gujarat Conflicting | 17,424 | Another source implies about 14,520 (3 bigha per acre) |
| Uttar Pradesh Conflicting | 27,000 | Others give 27,225 (east) and 6,806 (west) |
| Bihar | 27,220 | Katha varies by district |
| Punjab, Haryana Conflicting | 8,712–27,225 | Depends on biswa count and source |
Confirm the bigha or katha value with the local revenue office, and write the area in sq ft or sq m into the agreement.
Bigha
Check locallyPoints
- Size varies by state
- Biswa and katha vary with it
Acre
Safer in a dealPoints
- Always 43,560 sq ft
- Easy to cross-check on records
Which Land Measurement Units Are Used in Each Region of India?
Cities mostly quote sq ft or gaj; rural land uses regional units.
- North and Central: bigha, biswa, kanal, marla, killa (1 acre in Punjab).
- East and Northeast: bigha, katha, decimal.
- West: guntha in Maharashtra; bigha and vigha in Gujarat.
- South: cent in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, ground in Chennai, guntha in Telangana.
How Is Land Measured in Karnataka and Bengaluru?
Karnataka measures farmland in acres and guntha, and city sites in sq ft.
- The RTC (Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops, or Pahani) shows extent in acre-guntha, such as "2 acres 10 guntas", or hectare-are.
- Some records split a guntha into 16 annas of about 68 sq ft each.
- Dakshina Kannada and Udupi also use the cent.
- Bengaluru sites are sold by dimensions, such as 30 × 40 ft (1,200 sq ft).
How Do You Convert Between Land Measurement Units, Step by Step?
Convert land units through one base unit, then into the target unit.
1 sq m ≈ 10.8 sq ft. 1 hectare ≈ 2.5 acres. 1 guntha ≈ 1,100 sq ft. Use exact factors for deeds and payments.
Which Unit Is Valid in Land Records and Sale Deeds?
Many state land records use metric units; deeds and brokers often use customary ones.
- Maharashtra 7/12 (Satbara) extract: hectare and are. "R" means are, or 100 sq m.
- Tamil Nadu Patta: hectare, are and sq m.
- Karnataka RTC: acre-guntha, with hectare-are also used.
- Khasra, Khatauni, Jamabandi (north): bigha or kanal-marla.
How Do You Measure a Plot, Including an Irregular One?
A rectangular plot's area is length × width; split an irregular plot into triangles.
Measure the sides with a taut steel tape. Then draw a diagonal, measure each triangle's height square to it, and add the two areas (½ × base × height).
Apps give a rough estimate. For a purchase, use a licensed surveyor with a total station or DGPS (differential GPS).
How Do Carpet, Built-Up and Super Built-Up Area Relate to Land Units?
Carpet, built-up and super built-up area measure a flat's floor space, not land. RERA, the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, defines carpet area in Section 2(k) as net usable floor area.
Your undivided share of land is separate. See super built-up vs built-up vs carpet area.
How Do You Compare Land Prices Quoted in Different Units?
Convert every quote to price per sq ft first.
₹50 lakh per bigha is ₹347 per sq ft for a 14,400 sq ft bigha, but ₹184 for a 27,225 sq ft pucca bigha.
What Unit Mistakes Cause Land Disputes?
Most disputes start with unit confusion.
- Assuming one bigha or katha size everywhere
- Mixing up sq yd and sq m (a 16% gap)
- Trusting a verbal area claim
- Deed area differing from the record
Before paying a booking amount, confirm:
- Unit and area in the sale deed
- Same area on the land record and survey sketch
- Boundaries measured on site by a surveyor
Then plan the building with our house map and floor plan layouts.
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