Buying a Plot Near Bangalore: Which Authority Must Approve the Layout
Two identical 1,200 sq ft sites on the edge of Bangalore can have very different futures, and the difference is usually the office that sanctioned the layout. One plot gets a loan, a khata and a building plan without fuss. The other cannot be financed, struggles to be registered and loses value at resale. This article maps out which authority governs which land, explains revenue sites and khata types, and lists the checks to finish before you hand over a token.
What a Lawful Layout Looks Like
Each parcel of land answers to a single planning authority as set by the master plan and the planning statute, and a layout needs that authority's sanction. Banks, registration offices and the next purchaser all ask to see it. A paper issued by a body without any say over planning on that land adds little, even when it carries a seal and a letterhead.
The damage appears after the site visit, not during it. Banks refuse to lend, the khata is placed in a lower category and the next buyer either bargains hard or leaves. Asking about the approving body first prevents the whole chain.
Which Body Governs Which Land
Planning powers around the city are divided by geography, and the arrangement was reshaped during 2025. The list below shows who does what:
- Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA): responsible for planning within Greater Bengaluru since September 2025.
- City corporations: on 2 September 2025 five of them took over from the BBMP, and each of which now handles property tax, khata and building plans in its wards.
- Bangalore Development Authority (BDA): lays out its own sites, sells them by auction and builds flats, while its older layout approvals stay valid on record.
- BMRDA: supervises planning across the wider region, mostly delegated to local planning authorities of Hoskote, Anekal, Nelamangala and similar towns.
- BIAAPA: responsible for land around the international airport.
- Gram panchayats: village property records and local taxes are their business, and layout sanction is not.
Start with the survey number and ask which of these bodies covers it. The answer tells you which document is worth asking for.
Revenue Sites and Their Hidden Costs
A revenue site is a piece of agricultural land that has been subdivided into plots and sold lacking any layout sanction. Sellers often advertise such plots as "panchayat approved" and price them well under sites in approved layouts close by. The document shown to a buyer could be real, yet it was issued by a body that could not approve a housing layout there.
Trouble follows the sale. Mainstream banks rarely fund these plots, so buyers typically pay the whole amount from savings. Getting a plan sanctioned, a clean khata and a smooth resale all turn hard, and the plot stays exposed to enforcement against unauthorised layouts.
Conversion and zoning
Two further tests accompany the layout approval. Farmland must be converted to residential use by order wherever the law requires it. Zoning matters as well, because a plot in a green belt or industrial belt remains a problem despite holding a khata.
Understanding Khata Types
A khata ties a property to whoever pays tax on it. Within city corporation limits the document is now electronic, issued through e-Aasthi, and registering a sale requires it. Village properties are recorded on e-Swathu instead.
An A-khata goes to a property on a sanctioned layout with an approved plan. A B-khata covers those that fall short, and banks and buyers treat it cautiously. Eligible B-khata properties could be upgraded to A-khata for a fee during state drives that began in November 2025 and returned from May 2026, so confirm the present terms with your city corporation.
Why a khata does not prove ownership
Either type of khata is just a tax record. Ownership comes from the chain of registered sale deeds behind the property. A lawyer reads the khata with the deeds and the sanction documents.
Seven Checks Before a Token Payment
Allow an afternoon for the paperwork. Years of trouble can be avoided by finishing every step first:
- Note the survey number and identify the authority that governs the land.
- Ask that authority for the layout plan it sanctioned and the release order.
- Tally the survey and plot numbers shown on the plan with the sale deed and with what exists on the ground.
- Check for a conversion order and see which land use zone the master plan assigns.
- Pull up the e-khata online to see its category, A or B.
- Ask your lender to confirm in writing or in person that it will finance this plot.
- Hand the title papers, the approval and the encumbrance certificate to a property lawyer together.
The lender's reply works as a second opinion. A bank that balks at a plot's approval has probably spotted the flaw that the next buyer will find too.
Plots on the Fringe
Distance from the city is not the risk. Sanctioned layouts near Hoskote and Devanahalli can make sound purchases when the right planning authority gave the approval. Danger comes from revenue sites described as if they were approved layouts.
Apartment purchases raise a gentler form of this issue: the project should have an approved building plan, RERA registration and, once finished, an occupancy certificate. We are happy to go through these papers for any plot or flat on your shortlist, and the contact page is the place to start.
