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

Inside Nagpur city, most building plans are approved by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) under the state's Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations (UDCPR), filed online by your architect on the state's Building Plan Management System. But Nagpur is unusual: even inside city limits, some land has a different planning authority, and the Nagpur Improvement Trust, which the state once decided to dissolve, is still one of them. Outside the city, the Nagpur Metropolitan Region Development Authority (NMRDA) takes over.

If the land is still agricultural on paper, the 2025 reform means no separate NA permission from the Collector where the plan allows housing: the building permission does the conversion.

First question: which authority governs your plot?

NMC's own gazette notice of 13 June 2025 sets out the city's history. The Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) was set up in 1937 under the Nagpur Improvement Trust Act, 1936, and was the planning authority for the city from 1967. A notification of 9 April 2021 gave NMC planning powers for the whole corporation area except NIT's seven schemes and the Smart City town planning scheme. So inside the city you may meet:

• Nagpur Municipal Corporation: most plots inside city limits, where the Municipal Commissioner is the "Authority" under UDCPR. The "Building Plan" link on NMC's citizen services page goes to the state Building Plan Management System (BPMS), and NMC's Town Planning Department is the office to call.
• Nagpur Improvement Trust: planning authority for its seven schemes. The Hitavada reported on 14 April 2021 that these include the Eastern Industrial Area street scheme and a Green Belt Control Scheme whose powers cover regularising gunthewari layouts.
• MADC in MIHAN: a 2017 notification made the Maharashtra Airport Development Company the planning authority for the parts of the city inside the MIHAN project.
• Maha Metro: Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation was appointed Special Planning Authority for some parts of the city in 2018.
• The Smart City town planning scheme at Pardi, Bharatwada, Punapur and Bhandewadi, being implemented through Nagpur Smart and Sustainable City Development Corporation.

Outside city limits:

• NMRDA: the Nagpur Metropolitan Area. According to NIT's metropolitan region page, it was declared in 1999 and covers the whole of the Nagpur Rural, Hingna, Parseoni, Mauda and Kamptee talukas and parts of Saoner, Kalmeshwar, Umred and Kuhi. Forms, charges and plan notifications are on NMRDA's downloads page.
• Municipal councils and nagar panchayats in that belt, such as Kamptee, Wadi, Hingna, Besa-Pipla and Butibori, each listed as a separate authority on the BPMS dashboard. Under UDCPR, a council's Chief Officer is its Authority.
• Gaothan land is approved by the village panchayat, and land in a Regional Plan area outside every planning authority by the Collector, both by UDCPR's definition of "Authority".

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

Is NIT still around? Yes, as of October 2026

Many older articles say NIT was dissolved. The record is more tangled:

• In December 2016 the state approved dissolving NIT and handing its work to NMC, and a further decision followed in 2019.
• On 4 February 2021 the State Cabinet reversed both decisions and revived NIT as a planning authority (The Hitavada, 5 February 2021), and the April 2021 notification followed.
• In March 2025 the Deputy Chief Minister told the Assembly he would form a committee on NIT, NMRDA and gunthewari issues, while one MLA again demanded dissolution (The Hitavada, 12 March 2025).
• A state Urban Development Department letter of 29 April 2025, cited in NMC's June 2025 notice, directed NMC to include NIT's seven schemes in the city's next development plan, for integrated planning.

As of October 2026, NIT's website describes it as a local planning authority under the Urban Development Department, and BPMS lists it separately from NMC and NMRDA. We found no notification dissolving it. If your plot is in or near an NIT scheme, ask NIT and NMC in writing which of them will approve it.

The rulebook: UDCPR, with a Nagpur chapter

Nagpur follows UDCPR, sanctioned by the State on 2 December 2020. Mumbai's DCPR 2034 does not apply here; our Thane guide explains how UDCPR's approval clock works, and the same clauses apply in Nagpur. Use the latest consolidated copy from the Directorate of Town Planning (currently updated to 30 January 2025). What generic guides miss is the Nagpur-specific text (30 January 2025 copy):

For what setbacks, FSI and height limits mean on an ordinary plot, see our explainer on setbacks, FAR and height limits.

Nagpur's development plan: old, and being revised

The zoning of your plot comes from the development plan. According to NMC's gazette notice of 13 June 2025 (in Marathi), the city's first plan came into force on 30 July 1976. The first revised plan was sanctioned in part on 7 January 2000, in force from 1 March 2000, and the excluded part on 10 September 2001. That notice declared NMC's intention, under section 23 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, to prepare the second revised plan for the original limits together with a plan for the extended limits, including Hudkeshwar and Narsala, which joined the city in 2013.

A declaration of intention is only the first step: the draft plan, with its zones and reservations, comes later. As of October 2026 we could not find a published draft, so the 2000/2001 plan still governs. Ask your architect to check for any notice published since. In the NMRDA area, the metropolitan plan applies; NMRDA's downloads page lists its notifications of 5 January 2018 and 21 February 2019.

Land conversion after the 2025 reform

The Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Second Amendment) Act, 2025 (bill text as published in the Gazette on 8 December 2025, PRS India) rewrote sections 42 and 47 of the Code, and Punekar News reported on 12 February 2026 that a Government Resolution had put it into effect. In short:

• No Collector's permission is needed to use agricultural land for a non-agricultural purpose if the draft or final Development Plan, the Regional Plan or the regulations permit that use.
• The planning authority's permission does the conversion: NMC, NIT or NMRDA, depending on the plot. The revenue records are then updated.
• A one-time premium replaces conversion tax and the annual NA tax: 0.1 per cent of the land's current ready reckoner value up to 1,000 sq m, 0.25 per cent from 1,000 to 4,000 sq m, and 0.5 per cent above that. As an illustration only, a 150 sq m plot with a ready reckoner value of ₹30 lakh would pay about ₹3,000. Rates: IGR Maharashtra.
• Class II land is not upgraded by a building permission.

Our Pune guide covers the reform in more depth, including land converted earlier. The Nagpur caution is about zoning: in the NMRDA belt much land is in the agriculture zone, where housing is allowed only in limited cases, such as the gaothan periphery rule above. The reform only helps where the plan already permits the use. Read the 7/12 on Mahabhumi for the holder, other rights and occupancy class.

Gunthewari plots: get the regularisation letter first

Many plots around Nagpur were sold in unauthorised gunthewari layouts. The Maharashtra Gunthewari Developments (Regularisation, Upgradation and Control) Act, 2001 allows them to be regularised. According to The Hitavada of 9 February 2026, a 2021 amendment covers developments existing on 31 December 2020; NMRDA had about 1.5 lakh applicants but only about 1,000 had received a Regularisation Letter (RL) in three years, largely over a condition that 10 per cent of plots vest in the planning authority; and NMRDA had extended its online deadline to 20 February 2026. NIT runs its own online gunthewari application.

Our guidance, not a rule: if a plot you are buying is in a gunthewari layout, ask to see the RL before you pay, because building permission starts from a regularised plot.

The sequence, in one place

1. Confirm the authority for the survey number: NMC, NIT, MADC, a council or NMRDA.
2. Pull the 7/12 or property card and read the holder, other rights and occupancy class.
3. Check the zone and reservations in the sanctioned plan, and look for any newer draft.
4. For a gunthewari plot, get the RL first.
5. Appoint an architect who files on BPMS; you cannot file it yourself.
6. File for permission, paying the one-time NA premium with it if the land is agricultural.
7. File the plinth intimation before building further, then the completion certificate, and obtain the occupancy certificate.

Buying into a promoted project instead? Verify its registration on MahaRERA first.

Frequently asked questions

Who approves building plans in Nagpur?

For most plots inside city limits, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, through a licensed professional filing on BPMS under UDCPR. NIT approves in its seven schemes, MADC in MIHAN, and NMRDA in the metropolitan area outside the city, except within municipal councils.

Has the Nagpur Improvement Trust been dissolved?

No. A dissolution was decided in 2016 and 2019 but reversed in February 2021. As of October 2026 NIT still operates as a planning authority for its schemes and is listed on BPMS.

Do I still need NA permission to build in Nagpur?

Not a separate one, if the development plan or Regional Plan permits your use. Since the 2025 amendment, the building permission effects the conversion, with a one-time premium.

Can I get more FSI near the Nagpur Metro?

Within 500 m of the line, UDCPR allows total FSI up to 4.0 on premium, depending on plot size and road width, but TDR cannot be used there.

Can I build on a gunthewari plot in Nagpur?

Get the plot regularised and the RL issued first, by NIT or NMRDA depending on where it is, and then apply for building permission.

Approvals go faster when the person handling them has filed with your authority before. Browse architects on MOA, see their published work and message them directly, with no commission on either side.

Sources

• Nagpur Municipal Corporation: notice under section 23(1) of the MRTP Act declaring intention to prepare the second revised development plan, Maharashtra Government Gazette, Nagpur divisional supplement, 13 June 2025 (planning authority history, plan dates, NIT, MADC and Maha Metro areas) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Directorate of Town Planning, Maharashtra: UDCPR 2020, updated as on 30 January 2025 (definition of Authority, Regulations 2.6, 2.8.4, 2.10, 6.1.1, 10.3, 10.4, 14.2.3 and Table 8-C) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Directorate of Town Planning, Maharashtra: Acts and rules (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Urban Development Department, Maharashtra: Building Plan Management System, including the state dashboard of authorities (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Nagpur Municipal Corporation: citizen online services and Town Planning Department (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Nagpur Improvement Trust: Metropolitan region development and home page (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Nagpur Metropolitan Region Development Authority: Downloads (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025, L.A. Bill No. XCVII of 2025, as published in the Maharashtra Government Gazette of 8 December 2025 (PRS India copy) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Punekar News: Maharashtra ends separate NA permission for land conversion; annual NA tax abolished (12 Feb 2026) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• The Hitavada: State Cabinet reverses decision to scrap NIT (5 Feb 2021) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• The Hitavada: MVA restores Planning Authority status of NIT (14 Apr 2021) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• The Hitavada: DCM Shinde to form committee on Gunthewari (12 Mar 2025) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• The Hitavada: Only 1,000 of 1.5 lakh applicants get plots regularised under Gunthewari Act in last 3 years (9 Feb 2026) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Other official portals linked above: Mahabhumi, IGR Maharashtra, MahaRERA (accessed 16 Oct 2026)