Farmland in Karnataka: Eligibility, Limits and Checks for Buyers

Since 2020, a software engineer in Whitefield has had the same right to buy a farm near Bangalore as a farmer in Kolar. That change removed the old income test, yet the state still controls how much farmland one household may own and how the land may be put to use. This article explains, as of October 2026, who qualifies, what stays restricted and what to verify before any money changes hands.

Who Qualifies in 2026

An Indian citizen who is resident in India is eligible to purchase farmland anywhere in Karnataka. Occupation and non-farm earnings no longer matter. A doctor, a trader and a farming family are on equal footing at the sub-registrar's office.

Buying in the name of a company, trust, society or firm is a different matter. The ceiling and the allowed land use both raise issues for such buyers, so a lawyer should look at the structure before an agreement is drafted.

The NRI and OCI position

NRIs and holders of OCI cards fall under the Centre's foreign exchange rules rather than state law. Under those rules they may not purchase farmland, a plantation or a farmhouse in any part of the country. Inheriting such land remains permitted.

For an NRI who wants land near the city, the usual route is a residential plot in a layout that has already been converted and approved. Such a plot is treated as non-agricultural property, so the foreign exchange bar does not apply to it.

What Changed in 2020

The Karnataka Land Reforms Act of 1961 was written to keep farmland with farming households. Section 79A shut out anyone whose non-agricultural income went above a fixed threshold. Section 79B kept out most companies and institutions, while Section 79C covered false declarations used to dodge those bars.

An amendment in 2020 omitted all three provisions. Eligibility has since rested on citizenship and residence, not on how a buyer earns a living.

Can the Old Limits Come Back?

The repeal has stayed a political issue, and bringing back the earlier restrictions has been talked about publicly. In October 2026, the three sections are still missing from the Act, and the wider eligibility continues.

Reversing it would take a fresh amendment through the legislature. Since the law has moved before, a buyer should have a lawyer confirm the rule shortly before registration and file that opinion with the sale deed.

Controls the Repeal Left Untouched

The 2020 amendment answered the question of who may buy. Several other rules on farmland were not touched, and four of them matter most to buyers:

• A ceiling under Section 63 on the overall farmland one family is allowed to own
• Conversion to non-agricultural use before any house, layout or other non-farm project
• Restrictions on granted land under the state's 1978 law on transfers of land given to SC and ST families
• Government land, including forest, B-kharab land, tank beds and gomala grazing land, which no private seller can transfer

Because the ceiling covers the family, farmland in the name of a husband, wife or minor child is counted with any new purchase. Someone who already holds agricultural land elsewhere in the state should total everything up before signing.

Granted land

Land handed out by the state to SC and ST families cannot change hands without government permission. If that permission is missing, the sale may be voided and the land returned, sometimes many years after registration.

The pahani (RTC) together with the mutation entries normally tells whether a parcel came from a grant and under which terms. Where the history is unclear, a Tahsildar's endorsement, read with the original grant order and survey papers, settles the question.

A Farm Is Not Yet a House Site

Buying agricultural land does not bring a right to build a home on it. While the land stays classified as agricultural, only farm structures such as a shed, a pump house or a storage room are allowed. A residence, a villa project or a shop needs conversion first.

Applications for conversion go under Section 95 of the 1964 Land Revenue Act. The new use has to match what the area's master plan zones it for. Once converted, the land still needs a plan sanction from the planning authority. Any layout marketed as house plots ought to produce both its conversion order and its sanctioned layout plan.

A Buyer's Checklist

Paperwork decides whether a farmland purchase is safe. Work through these steps for every survey number:

1. Trace ownership and land classification through RTC and mutation entries covering 30 years or more.
2. Look for any government grant in the records and get a copy of the grant order if one exists.
3. Rule out any entry of the survey number as B-kharab, tank bed, forest or gomala land.
4. Have a licensed surveyor confirm the sketch and the boundaries on the ground.
5. Add up the family's existing holding and compare it with the ceiling.
6. Check what the zoning allows where a house or layout may come later.
7. Collect encumbrance certificates and get a lawyer's written title opinion.

A buyer whose real aim is a home site may save effort with a plot in a converted, approved layout, where the conversion and plan sanction are already in place. Several of the Devanahalli plot layouts near the airport fit that description.