DC Conversion in Karnataka: What Plot Buyers Near Bangalore Should Check

DC conversion is the permission that lets farmland in Karnataka be used for housing, and most plots sold around Bangalore began as farmland. This guide explains what the conversion order is, how the 2025 rule changes altered the process and where conversion stops and layout approval begins. It closes with the checks a plot buyer should finish before paying an advance.

What DC conversion means

Land in Karnataka is recorded by the Revenue Department as agricultural unless its use has been changed formally. Section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964 requires the occupant to obtain permission before putting such land to any other purpose. The Deputy Commissioner of the district grants that permission, which is why the trade calls it DC conversion.

The permission is issued as a written order, often called the conversion order or the land conversion certificate. It names the village, the survey number, the extent converted and the new purpose, such as residential, commercial or industrial. A conversion fee is paid to the government before the order is released, and the order carries conditions that the owner has to follow.

Conversion changes the permitted use of the land and nothing else. Ownership still depends on the title deeds, and the right to form plots or to build still depends on approvals from the planning authority. A converted survey number is a starting point for a layout, and a long way from a finished, saleable plot.

How the process works after the 2025 changes

Applications have been filed online for some years, with a sworn affidavit from the owner in place of a long trail of office reports. The Karnataka Land Revenue (Amendment) Rules, 2025, notified on 17 September 2025, went further. The route now depends on whether the land falls inside an approved master plan.

The main points of the amended rules are set out below.

• Inside a master plan area, land that matches the zoning needs no separate prior order from the Deputy Commissioner
• For such land, the planning authority checks the details, collects the fee and treats the land as converted while approving the plan
• Outside a master plan area, the Deputy Commissioner examines the application, with a deemed approval if no decision comes within 30 days
• Every application carries a notarised affidavit with the record of rights (RTC), the mutation extract, a survey sketch and the master plan extract
• Small industries on up to two acres and renewable energy projects follow an automatic route

The change shortens the wait for land that already has a residential zone in the master plan. It leaves the zoning test untouched. Farmland marked as an agricultural zone, a green belt, a lake buffer or a road alignment in the master plan stays outside residential use, whatever the seller promises about a future order.

What a deemed approval is worth

A deemed approval arises from the passage of time and has no signed order behind it at first. Banks and later buyers will still ask for a document, so the owner should obtain the certificate that records the deemed conversion. Treat a seller's statement that conversion is "deemed" as a claim to be proved with paper.

Conversion is one step among several

A plot in a lawful layout rests on a sequence of approvals, each from a different office. Reading them in order shows where a particular plot has reached.

1. Title: registered deeds tracing ownership of the survey number to the present owner
2. Conversion: the Section 95 order, or the planning authority's approval that treats the land as converted
3. Layout plan: sanction from the planning authority for roads, parks, civic sites and numbered plots
4. Release of plots: the authority's release order after the roads, drains and utilities are formed
5. Khata: an entry for each plot in the local body's property register
6. RERA: registration of the layout as a project where the Act applies

Around the airport, the area planning authority sanctions layouts in Devanahalli. Other belts come under the Bangalore Development Authority or the metropolitan region's planning bodies. A layout with conversion alone has cleared the second step only, and "DC converted site" on a brochure is accurate and incomplete at once.

Converted land and revenue sites

A revenue site is a plot carved out of a survey number and sold by a registered deed without a sanctioned layout plan. Some revenue sites are on converted land and many are on land with no conversion at all. Either way, the roads and open spaces were never handed over to a public authority, and the plot may fail the test for a regular khata and a building licence.

What happens without conversion

Land used for housing without permission remains agricultural in the revenue record. Section 96 of the Act allows the authorities to levy a penalty and to order that the unauthorised use be stopped. The practical effects reach the buyer long before any such order.

The usual consequences are listed below.

• The local body will decline a building plan for the plot
• Lenders will refuse a plot loan or a construction loan
• The plot will be denied a regular khata, which blocks a clean resale
• Electricity and water connections for a new house become hard to obtain

Since 2020, a person who is not an agriculturist may buy farmland in Karnataka. That reform changed who may own agricultural land, and the permitted use of the land stayed the same. A house or a layout on it still needs conversion.

Reading a conversion order

Ask for the full order with all its pages and annexures, including the sketch. Then read it against the sale deed and the layout plan, line by line. The points below matter most.

• Survey number and village: these should match the title deeds and the RTC exactly, including any sub-division such as 45/2
• Extent: the area converted, in acres and guntas, should cover the whole of the land being sold
• Purpose: an order for industrial or commercial use does not cover housing
• Name: the applicant on the order should appear in the chain of title
• Conditions: note any time limit or requirement to obtain a layout or building plan
• Date and number: these allow the order to be traced in the district office

Part conversion is common. An owner may convert two acres out of a five-acre survey number and sell plots across a wider area. Compare the conversion sketch with the layout plan to confirm that the plot on offer falls inside the converted portion.

How to verify the conversion

A photocopy from the seller is the beginning of the check. Three independent records should agree with it.

• The RTC on the Bhoomi portal, which should show the survey number as converted to non-agricultural use for the same extent
• The Revenue Department's land conversion service, where the request number on the order can be looked up
• A certified copy from the Deputy Commissioner's office or the planning authority, which a lawyer can apply for

Next, look at the master plan for the area and confirm that the zone allows housing. Then ask for the sanctioned layout plan and find the plot number on it. A lawyer's written opinion that ties these papers together costs little beside the price of a plot.

Checks before paying an advance

Plots are simpler to buy than flats in one respect: the papers are few. Each one carries more weight as a result. Work through the list below before any money changes hands.

1. Obtain the latest RTC and the mutation extract for the survey number
2. Read the conversion order for survey number, extent, purpose and conditions
3. Match the plot against the sanctioned layout plan and the release order
4. Ask for the khata of the individual plot and the latest tax receipt
5. Take an encumbrance certificate for at least 30 years
6. Check the Karnataka RERA portal for the layout's registration
7. Confirm with a lender that the plot qualifies for a loan, even when paying in cash

A lender's approval is a useful second opinion, because banks reject plots with gaps in conversion or layout sanction. Our listings of plots for sale in Devanahalli are a place to start comparing approved layouts in North Bangalore. For help with the papers of a particular layout, reach our team through the contact page.