Authorities Made Easy: Building Plan Approval and Land Conversion in Bengaluru (2026 Guide)

Bengaluru is the city where people most often discover, too late, that the plot they bought was never legally converted or never had a proper khata. Checking the paperwork matters more here than almost anywhere else, and almost every check below can now be done online, before you pay anyone.

The other good news for 2026: BBMP has been replaced by the Greater Bengaluru Authority and five city corporations, and inside the GBA area the separate land conversion step has been folded into plan approval for land the master plan already zones for that use. The details, and what has not changed, are in the steps below.

First question: which authority governs your plot?

This single answer decides the rulebook, the portal, the fees and the timeline.

• Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and its five city corporations: the old BBMP area. The Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024 came into effect on 15 May 2025, and the final notification creating the five corporations (Central, North, South, East and West) was issued on 2 September 2025, according to the GBA website (About GBA section).
• Bangalore Development Authority (BDA): the planning authority for its local planning area around the city. See bdakarnataka.in, which the GBA site links to as BDA's official site.
• A BMRDA local planning authority: further out, in the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region, plans go to one of the local planning authorities such as Anekal, Hoskote, Nelamangala, Magadi, Kanakapura or the Bangalore International Airport Area Planning Authority. BMRDA lists them all, with contacts, on its local planning areas page.

If the seller cannot tell you which applies, treat that as a warning sign. Our plot due diligence checklist covers the other checks to run before you pay.

The rulebook that applies in Bengaluru

Land use and zoning in the Bengaluru area still come from the Revised Master Plan 2015. The proposed RMP 2031 was withdrawn, and legal experts quoted by Deccan Herald in February 2026 confirm that RMP 2015 remains the statutory plan that binds plan approvals. Your plot's zone decides what you may build. For setbacks, coverage and height, start with our explainer on setbacks, FAR and height limits.

Step one: read the land record and the khata before you pay anything

Karnataka's land records, including the RTC (the record of rights, tenancy and crops), are on the state land records citizen portal. Pull the RTC for the survey number and check the other-rights column, where mortgages and disputes appear, and the land classification. If it still reads agricultural, step two applies.

Then check the khata. Inside the GBA, three things now matter:

• e-khata is mandatory. The GBA building permission portal states that e-khata has been mandatory for building licence, plinth certificate and Occupancy Certificate applications since 1 July 2025. e-khata is issued on the e-Aasthi portal.
• B-khata is a problem for occupancy. A B-khata is only a tax-register entry, and BBMP did not issue Occupancy Certificates for B-khata sites, as Deccan Herald reported in August 2025.
• B-khata can now become A-khata. The GBA runs a B-to-A khata and single plot approval portal. Its notice says applications filed on or before 23 August 2026 pay 2 per cent of the guidance value, and applications from 24 August 2026 pay 5 per cent.

Step two: land conversion, after the recent changes

Conversion of agricultural land is governed by Section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964. The section as it now reads (the extract is printed with LA Bill 51 of 2025, PRS India copy) sets out two routes:

• Inside a published master plan: the Deputy Commissioner's permission is not required if the use matches the land use shown in the master plan published under the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961. The conversion fee is paid to the town planning authority when you obtain your permissions, with a self-declaration.
• Outside any local planning area with a published master plan: you file an affidavit and application with the Deputy Commissioner. The departments consulted have 15 days to give an opinion, after which they are deemed to have no objection, and if the Deputy Commissioner does not decide within 30 days, the conversion is deemed approved.

The Karnataka Land Revenue (Amendment) Rules, 2025 (Notification RD-LGP/6/2025, dated 17 September 2025) added a notarised affidavit in prescribed forms, master plan extracts and digitally signed conversion certificates, according to a Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas analysis. The Revenue Department's land conversion portal now offers both an affidavit-based conversion and a separate "Master Plan Based Deemed Land Conversion" service.

For Bengaluru, the bigger change came in February 2026. Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda announced that the separate conversion process had been done away with in the Greater Bengaluru area covered by a master plan. In his words, as reported by Deccan Herald on 7 February 2026, landowners who are developers "can now directly apply for plan approval as per the master plan, and land conversion will be carried out automatically as part of the plan approval process."

What has not changed: the use still has to be permitted by the master plan. If your survey number sits in an agricultural or green zone under RMP 2015, plan approval will not convert it, and none of these reforms helps. Reading the zoning for your survey number is now the real conversion check.

The fee. The fee schedule the Revenue Department publishes on its conversion portal lists ₹13.45 per sq m for residential use and ₹43.04 per sq m for non-residential use within the corporation limits and 18 km around them in Bangalore Urban district. An ordinary application needs the current RTC, the mutation extract, an 11E sketch for part of a survey number, and a notarised affidavit. Deccan Herald noted in February 2026 that there was no clarity yet on how the fee is collected under GBA auto-conversion, so confirm the amount with the planning authority before you file.

Step three: the building licence

Inside the GBA, building licences, plinth certificates and Occupancy Certificates are applied for on the GBA single-window construction permit portal, which runs on the AutoDCR platform and serves all five city corporations.

For smaller houses there is a faster lane, Nambike Nakshe ("trust the plan"). In its first version, Deccan Herald reported that it approved the draft plan on the day of submission and gave final approval within 15 days. On 19 September 2026, Krishna Byre Gowda, now Minister for Greater Bengaluru Development, launched Nambike Nakshe 2.0 on a pilot basis. According to Deccan Herald's report:

• it covers residential plots of up to 50 x 80 ft;
• plans are submitted online by a qualified architect or engineer, and the e-khata number fetches the ownership details;
• the system checks the plan against the zoning rules and, if there are no violations, issues the approval within about 30 minutes;
• it starts in selected areas, to be extended across the GBA after review.

In practice these portals are built for licensed professionals filing under their own credentials, and sanctioned drawings need a registered signatory. That is the practical reason to appoint an architect early rather than after the design is settled: the person who signs your drawings is the person who can file them. For a realistic budget once approvals are in hand, see our Bangalore construction cost breakdown.

Step four: the milestones people miss

The plinth certificate comes once the plinth is complete. The authority checks that what has been built matches the sanctioned plan: position on the plot, setbacks and footprint. Building above plinth level without it is how small deviations become expensive, because the remedy later is demolition rather than a redraw.

The Occupancy Certificate (OC) is what makes the building legally fit to occupy. It matters more since the Supreme Court's December 2024 order, reported by Deccan Herald, that civic services such as water, electricity and sanitation should not be provided to buildings that violate norms or lack an OC.

Small houses now have an exemption. A government order of 9 September 2025, under Section 241(7) of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, exempted residential buildings on plots of up to 1,200 sq ft, with ground plus two floors or stilt plus three, and duly approved plans, from needing an OC (The Hans India). A further order dated 5 June 2026 extended this to residential plots of up to 2,400 sq ft and ground plus three floors, according to a Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas analysis. The exemption does not cover a building without a sanctioned plan, and it does not excuse deviations from it. If you are planning a 30x40 or 40x60 house, our guide to what you can build on a small plot shows how the rules shape it.

The sequence, in one place

1. Confirm which authority governs the plot: a GBA city corporation, BDA or a BMRDA local planning authority.
2. Pull the RTC and read the other-rights column and the land classification.
3. Check the khata: get the e-khata, and if it is a B-khata, look at B-to-A conversion before you build.
4. Check the zoning of the survey number in RMP 2015.
5. If the land is agricultural: inside the GBA master plan area, conversion now runs through plan approval; elsewhere, file the affidavit-based application with the Deputy Commissioner.
6. Appoint an architect or licensed engineer. They hold the portal credentials.
7. File for the building licence on the GBA single window, through Nambike Nakshe if your plot qualifies.
8. Build to plinth and get the plinth certificate before going higher.
9. Complete construction and apply for the Occupancy Certificate, unless your house falls under the small-building exemption.

Official portals for Bengaluru

• Greater Bengaluru Authority: the five city corporations and e-services
• GBA single-window construction permits: building licence, plinth certificate, OC and Nambike Nakshe
• e-Aasthi: e-khata
• B-to-A khata and single plot approval
• Karnataka land records citizen portal: RTC and conversion applications
• Revenue Department land conversion portal: affidavit-based and master plan conversions
• Bangalore Development Authority
• BMRDA local planning authorities

Frequently asked questions

Do I still need DC conversion to build a house in Bengaluru?

Usually not a separate one inside the GBA. Land the published master plan zones for your use does not need the Deputy Commissioner's permission, and since February 2026 conversion in the GBA master plan area happens as part of plan approval. Outside a master plan area, you still apply to the Deputy Commissioner, with deemed approval after 30 days.

What is a revenue site, and why is it a problem?

A plot carved out of agricultural land without conversion or an approved layout. It may be sold and taxed, usually with a B-khata, but it is not an approved site, which affects plan sanction, the OC, loans and resale. If you already own one, look at the B-to-A khata route.

Is BBMP still the sanctioning authority?

No. BBMP has been replaced by the Greater Bengaluru Authority and five city corporations: Central, North, South, East and West. Building licences for all five are filed on the GBA single-window portal.

Do I need an Occupancy Certificate for a 30x40 house in Bengaluru?

A 30x40 plot is 1,200 sq ft, so a residential building of up to ground plus two floors with an approved plan falls under the September 2025 exemption, and the June 2026 order is reported to extend it to 2,400 sq ft. You still need a sanctioned plan and must build to it. Confirm the conditions with your corporation before relying on it for utility connections.

How long does building plan approval take in Bengaluru?

Under the Nambike Nakshe 2.0 pilot, a compliant plan on an eligible plot can be approved in about 30 minutes. Other files take longer, depending on scrutiny and queries. An architect who has recently filed in your corporation gives the most reliable estimate.

Approvals go considerably faster when the person handling them has filed in your area before. You can browse architects practising in Bengaluru on MOA, see their published work and message them directly, with no commission on either side.

Sources

• PRS India: Karnataka Land Reforms and Certain Other Law (Amendment) Bill, 2025 (LA Bill 51 of 2025), with the extract of Section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964 (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Revenue Department, Karnataka: Bhoomi land conversion services and documents, fee details and work procedure (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas: Karnataka Land Revenue Rules Amendment, 2025 (18 Nov 2025) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Deccan Herald: Karnataka removes land conversion requirement in GBA (7 Feb 2026) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Deccan Herald: How auto-conversion could rewrite property ownership in Bengaluru (14 Feb 2026) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Greater Bengaluru Authority: website, About GBA section and e-services (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Greater Bengaluru Authority: single-window construction permit portal, including the e-khata notice (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Greater Bengaluru Authority: B-khata to A-khata conversion and single plot approval (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Deccan Herald: 3 months to 30 minutes, GBA introduces online system to cut down building plan approval time (19 Sep 2026) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Deccan Herald: Safety or shortcuts? BBMP's big bet on easing occupancy certificate rules (24 Aug 2025) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• The Hans India: Residential buildings up to 1200 sft exempted from occupancy certificate (11 Sep 2025) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas: Exemption of occupancy certificate requirements for small residential buildings in Karnataka (6 Jul 2026) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• BMRDA: Local planning authorities in the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Other official portals listed above: Karnataka land records, e-Aasthi and BDA (accessed 16 Oct 2026)

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• Authorities Made Easy: Building Permission and Land Conversion in Hyderabad (2026 Guide)