Karnataka amended its Land Revenue Rules in 2025, and the changes matter to anyone holding agricultural land with a plan for it. The headline is a shift from an open-ended discretionary process toward one with deadlines attached — but the trade-off is that the penalties for misusing a conversion once it is granted have become considerably more serious.
Two different processes, routinely confused
DC conversion under Section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act changes the revenue record — it moves the Bhoomi entry from agricultural to non-agricultural. Change of Land Use under Section 14-A of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act changes what the planning authority permits on the site. They are separate, and having one does not give you the other. A great many disappointed buyers discovered this after paying for land that was converted but zoned for something they did not want to build.
Deemed approval
The amendment introduces a deemed-approval mechanism where the Deputy Commissioner does not act within the prescribed window. For land inside a master plan zone that window is short; for land outside one, the file goes to closer scrutiny. In practice this compresses a process that used to have no reliable end date — but a deemed approval is only as good as the file it sits on, and a deemed approval on a defective application is a liability rather than an asset.
Automatic conversion for certain uses
Small industrial units up to around two acres, and renewable energy projects, benefit from automatic conversion without going through DC approval. If your intended use falls inside those categories, the timeline changes materially and should be modelled that way.
The documentation is now stricter
Notarised affidavits in the prescribed forms are mandatory. This is not a formality — an affidavit that misstates the position is the hook on which a later cancellation hangs.
The penalties are the real change
Misuse of a conversion can now result in cancellation of the conversion itself, forfeiture of the fees paid, confiscation of the land, and fines running to a lakh plus a daily penalty for continued violation. The practical effect: conversion for a use you do not intend to pursue is a much worse idea in 2026 than it was in 2023.
What to do with this
If you hold agricultural land and intend to sell or develop it, establish three things in writing before you commit to a price: the current conversion position, whether your intended use is permitted under the applicable master plan, and what the realistic conversion timeline is for your specific parcel. Those three answers move the value of most parcels more than any negotiation will.