In short (2026)
If you are not a farmer, here is the honest 2026 answer in two lines: yes, you can now legally buy agricultural land in Karnataka, but no, you cannot build a house on it until it is converted to non-agricultural (NA) use. Karnataka scrapped the old "only agriculturists can buy" rule back in 2020 by repealing Sections 79A, 79B and 79C of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, so any resident Indian citizen can purchase agricultural land here regardless of profession or income. The catch is the second half of the question. Buying the land is legal; living on it is not, until you obtain a conversion order under Section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964. If a seller tells you to "buy now and convert later," you are the one who inherits the demolition notice, the rejected home loan and the missing occupancy certificate.
This guide answers the two questions in order, states the exact sections and 2026 rules a builder blog will not, and shows you the one record that proves whether the land is really buildable before you pay.
Can a non-farmer legally buy agricultural land in Karnataka?
Yes. This is the part almost every older article still gets wrong.
Until 2020, Karnataka law heavily restricted who could own farmland:
- Section 79A barred anyone whose assured income from non-agricultural sources was more than ₹25 lakh a year from buying agricultural land. A salaried professional or business owner was effectively locked out.
- Section 79B allowed only a person who personally cultivated the land to hold it, and expressly barred companies, trusts, societies, co-operatives and educational or religious institutions.
- Section 80 prohibited transferring agricultural land to any non-agriculturist at all.
The Karnataka Land Reforms (Amendment) Act, 2020 repealed Sections 79A, 79B and 79C and removed the income ceiling entirely. The result: any resident Indian citizen — and now companies and institutions too — can buy agricultural land in Karnataka, with no farming background and no ₹25 lakh income cap.
Two limits survive the repeal, and they matter:
- NRIs, OCIs and foreign nationals still cannot buy agricultural land anywhere in India. That bar comes from FEMA, not the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, so the 2020 repeal did not touch it. An NRI who wants Karnataka farmland can generally only inherit it, not purchase it.
- The purchase being legal says nothing about the title being clean. A non-farmer buying farmland still needs the full title check — the 30-year deed chain, the EC, the RTC and mutation history, and a survey-number match. Read our checklist for buying agricultural land in India before you agree a price.
So on the first question you are clear: buy it. It is the second question where people lose money.
So can I just build my house on it?
No. Owning agricultural land does not give you the right to build on it. Under Section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, agricultural land must first be converted to non-agricultural use — this is the "DC conversion" or "NA conversion" you will hear about. Until that order exists, any structure you build is illegal from the day the first brick is laid.
The consequences of building on unconverted land are not theoretical:
| If the land is not converted | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Building plan sanction | The local body will not approve a plan on agricultural land |
| Home loan | No bank will lend against an unconverted agricultural plot |
| Occupancy certificate (OC) | Cannot be issued, so the house is never legally habitable |
| Penalty for unauthorised use | Fine up to ₹1 lakh plus ₹2,500 per day it continues |
| Demolition | The structure is liable to be removed as an unauthorised construction |
This is exactly why the "buy now, I'll convert it later" pitch is dangerous. The seller has your money; you have the risk. If conversion is refused — because the land falls in a green belt, a buffer zone, a defence or airport restriction, or a prohibited survey number — you are left holding land you cannot build on and cannot easily sell.
The safe order is the reverse of what most sellers propose: either buy land that is already converted, or make conversion a written condition of the sale with the balance payment tied to the RTC being updated.
What changed in 2025 — is conversion automatic now?
Partly, and this is the freshest part of the answer. The Karnataka Land Revenue (Amendment) Rules, 2025 (Notification No. RD-LGP/6/2025, dated 17 September 2025) created a two-track conversion system:
- Land inside an approved master-plan zone, where the intended use matches the zoning, no longer needs a separate Deputy Commissioner order. The planning authority verifies the details, collects the conversion fee and issues a digitally-signed conversion certificate directly.
- Land outside master-plan zones still goes to the DC, but with a clock: the DC must decide within a short scrutiny window, and an application not decided within 30 days is treated as deemed approved.
The amendment also introduced near-automatic conversion for small industrial units (up to about two acres) and renewable-energy projects, and moved the paperwork to digitally-signed certificates and QR-coded RTC extracts you can authenticate online.
Here is the trap in the new rules, and the point no listing agent will make: "deemed" or "automatic" is not the same as "recorded." A conversion that has not yet been written into the RTC (Pahani) and the mutation register is not something a buyer, a bank or a court can rely on. The order — deemed or express — is only useful once it reaches the land record. Treat an oral "it's deemed converted" the same way you would treat an oral partition or an oral loan repayment: unproven until the register says so.
How do I verify the land is really converted before I pay?
This is where the whole transaction is decided, and it takes a specific record, not a reassurance.
Pull the RTC first. On the Bhoomi / landrecords.karnataka.gov.in portal, open the RTC (Pahani) for the survey number and read the nature-of-land / land-use column. If the land is converted, it will show non-agricultural use. If it still shows agricultural (Krishi), the land is not converted — whatever the seller says.
Then check three matches:
- The conversion order / affidavit number exists and can be tracked (Karnataka lets you track conversion applications by Affidavit Number on the land-records portal). A genuine 2025-onward certificate is digitally signed.
- The survey number on the conversion certificate matches the survey number on the sale deed and on the RTC. A conversion order for a neighbouring survey number is worthless to you.
- The stated purpose fits your plan. A Section 95 order converts land for a specific purpose (residential, commercial, industrial), and that purpose cannot be changed later. A "commercial" conversion does not let you build a home.
And the mechanism that catches the most expensive mistakes: conversion status never appears on an Encumbrance Certificate. The EC is issued under the Registration Act, 1908, and records only registered instruments — sales, mortgages, gifts. It does not record land-use, zoning, buffer zones or conversion. A property can have a spotless 30-year EC and still be un-buildable agricultural land. If you check only the EC, you will miss this every time. Land-use lives on the RTC and the DC conversion order, not on the EC. (The same blind spot applies to lake buffer zones and prohibited land — see why a clean EC is not a clean property for the full conversion process.)
The one check that ties it together
For a non-farmer buying Karnataka farmland to build on, a clean transaction needs four things to line up, in this order:
- Eligibility — you can buy (resident Indian citizen or entity; not an NRI/OCI for agricultural land).
- Title — the 30-year deed chain, EC, and a survey-number match prove the seller can actually sell it.
- Conversion — a Section 95 DC order (or a 2025 planning-authority certificate) that is reflected on the RTC, for the purpose you intend.
- Encumbrances beyond the EC — RTC and mutation history, prohibited/22A status, and any pending litigation on the owner's name.
Most buyers do steps 1 and 2 and stop. Steps 3 and 4 are where farmland deals actually break, and they sit in the revenue records (RTC, mutation, akarband, cadastral map) that a title search reads and an EC does not.
This is the check LegiScore runs for Karnataka. A LegiScore property title report pulls the RTC and mutation history alongside the deed chain, EC and litigation search, so the conversion status, the survey-number match and the encumbrances show up in one rated report — before you pay the advance, not after the demolition notice. See our Karnataka property due-diligence guide for the full state-specific process.
Frequently asked questions
Can a salaried person buy agricultural land in Karnataka in 2026? Yes. Since the 2020 repeal of Sections 79A and 79B of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, there is no farming requirement and no ₹25 lakh non-agricultural income cap. A salaried or self-employed resident Indian can buy agricultural land in Karnataka.
Can I build a farmhouse on agricultural land in Karnataka without conversion? No. Any residential structure on unconverted agricultural land is unauthorised and liable to penalty and demolition. You need a Section 95 conversion order first, and the RTC must reflect the non-agricultural use.
Can an NRI buy agricultural land in Karnataka? No. NRIs, OCIs and foreign nationals are barred from purchasing agricultural land anywhere in India under FEMA. The 2020 Karnataka repeal did not change this — an NRI can generally only inherit such land.
How long does DC conversion take in Karnataka now? Under the 2025 rules, land inside an approved master-plan zone gets a conversion certificate directly from the planning authority, and applications outside master-plan zones are deemed approved if the DC does not decide within 30 days. In practice, timelines still depend on the land record being updated afterwards.
How do I check if a Karnataka plot is already converted? Pull the RTC (Pahani) on landrecords.karnataka.gov.in and read the nature-of-land column — it must show non-agricultural use — then confirm the conversion order's survey number matches the sale deed. Do not rely on the Encumbrance Certificate; it never shows conversion status.
Is a clean Encumbrance Certificate enough to confirm I can build? No. The EC records only registered instruments under the Registration Act, 1908. It does not show land-use, zoning or conversion. A plot with a spotless EC can still be unconverted agricultural land you cannot legally build on.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and reflects the law and Karnataka rules as of September 2026. Verify the current position for your specific survey number before you transact.