Khata A vs Khata B: What Every Bangalore Plot Buyer Must Know in 2026

This is buyer guidance, not legal advice. Consult a registered property lawyer for your specific situation.

If you are buying a plot in Bangalore, two words will follow you through every conversation with agents, lawyers, and bank officials: Khata A and Khata B. Get this wrong and you could end up with a property that no bank will finance, no municipality will sanction for construction, and no buyer will touch when you eventually try to sell. This guide explains everything you need to know before signing any agreement.

What Is a Khata Certificate?

A Khata (from the Kannada word for "account") is an accounting record maintained by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) or the relevant urban local body (ULB) that identifies a property, its owner, and the tax liability associated with it. Every property within BBMP limits must have a Khata to be officially recognised for the purposes of property tax assessment, building plan sanction, water and sewage connections, and trade licences.

Critically, a Khata is not a title document. It does not prove ownership in the way a sale deed or an encumbrance certificate does. It is an administrative record. But it is one of the most important administrative records in Bangalore real estate because its category — A or B — tells you almost everything about whether a property has been legally sanctioned and whether you can build on it or borrow against it.

Outside BBMP limits, equivalent records are maintained by the Bruhat Development Authority (BDA), Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA), or gram panchayats. The A/B classification logic applies broadly across these bodies, though the terminology may differ slightly.

Khata A — The Safe Category

Khata A means the property has been assessed and registered in BBMP's main assessment register. To qualify for Khata A, the property must meet the following conditions:

• The layout must have been approved by BDA, BBMP, or the relevant planning authority.
• The land must have undergone DC Conversion (conversion from agricultural to non-agricultural use under Section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act) if it was originally agricultural land.
• The property must have a clear, unencumbered title traceable through a proper chain of ownership.
• All development charges and betterment charges must have been paid to the local body.

The practical benefits of Khata A are significant. Banks — including SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis, and almost every scheduled commercial bank — will consider a Khata A property for a home loan or plot loan. BBMP will issue building plan sanctions. You can obtain an Occupancy Certificate (OC) after construction. Water and sewage connections are straightforward. When you resell, Khata A is a non-negotiable expectation from any informed buyer.

In short, Khata A is the baseline standard for a legally safe property in Bangalore. If a plot has Khata A, it has cleared the most important administrative hurdle.

Khata B — The Grey Category

Khata B is entered in what BBMP calls the "B Register" — a secondary register that records properties purely for the purpose of collecting property tax, without conferring any legitimacy on the layout or the land use. A property lands in Khata B because one or more of the following is true:

• The layout was not approved by any planning authority — it may have been carved out of agricultural land without DC Conversion.
• The layout received BDA or BBMP approval but the developer never completed the required infrastructure handover (roads, drainage, parks) so the authority never accepted it.
• The property is in a regularised revenue layout (gramathana extension) that pre-dates formal planning approvals.
• The DC Conversion order exists but the Khata has not yet been upgraded, often due to unpaid betterment charges or pending paperwork.

BBMP collects property tax on Khata B properties because the state needs revenue and the residents need basic services. But this tax collection is explicitly not an endorsement of the layout or the construction. Khata B is sometimes called a "revenue Khata" for this reason — it is a revenue record, not a planning approval.

The consequences are serious. You cannot get a building plan sanction from BBMP on a Khata B property. You cannot get an Occupancy Certificate. Most banks will refuse a home loan. And if BBMP conducts a demolition or regularisation drive — as it has multiple times since 2015 — Khata B properties in unapproved layouts are the primary targets.

Can You Buy a Khata B Property?

This is the question every buyer eventually asks, and the honest answer is: it depends on why the property has Khata B and whether that reason is fixable.

There are broadly two types of Khata B situations. In the first, the DC Conversion exists, the layout is approved, but the Khata upgrade is pending due to procedural delays or unpaid betterment charges. This is relatively low risk — the underlying legal status is sound, and conversion to Khata A is a matter of completing administrative steps. Many properties in areas like Sarjapur Road, Whitefield fringe, and Hoskote have been in this situation and have successfully converted.

In the second — and far more dangerous — type, there is no DC Conversion order, the layout was never approved, and the land is technically still agricultural. This is high risk. BBMP has conducted multiple demolition drives in areas like Bellandur, Varthur, Mahadevapura, and Rachenahalli, specifically targeting unapproved constructions on revenue-converted layouts. Hundreds of structures have been razed. In 2022-23 alone, BBMP issued demolition notices to over 4,000 properties in unapproved layouts across North and East Bangalore.

The encroachment exposure is real. If a layout was carved out of land near a lake, a naala, or a forest buffer, the risk of demolition is compounded because such land has additional regulatory protection under the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority Act and the BBMP master plan.

Brickplot's position: Do not buy Khata B property unless you have a written legal opinion confirming that the DC Conversion order exists, the layout approval is traceable, and the Khata A conversion process is clearly underway or initiatable. Never rely on an agent's verbal assurance that "conversion will happen in 6 months."

Khata B to Khata A Conversion — The Process

If a Khata B property has the underlying legal credentials (DC Conversion + layout approval), converting to Khata A involves the following steps:

1. Verify DC Conversion Order: Obtain a certified copy of the DC Conversion order from the Deputy Commissioner's office in the relevant district. Confirm the survey number matches your property exactly.
2. Check for Layout Approval: Confirm that BDA, BBMP, or the BMRDA has formally approved the layout. Get a copy of the sanction plan.
3. Pay Betterment Charges: BBMP levies betterment charges (also called infrastructure development charges) before upgrading Khata. As of 2025-26, these range from ₹200 to ₹800 per square metre depending on the zone. For a 1,200 sq ft plot in an East Bangalore zone, expect ₹30,000 to ₹1,20,000 in betterment charges.
4. Submit Application to BBMP: File Form-B (Khata Transfer/Conversion application) at the relevant BBMP zonal office, along with the sale deed, DC Conversion order, EC (Encumbrance Certificate) for 30 years, property tax receipts, and layout sanction plan.
5. Obtain Khata Certificate and Extract: Once BBMP processes the application, it issues the Khata Certificate and Khata Extract. The extract is the document banks and buyers will ask for.

If a regularisation scheme is applicable (BBMP has run regularisation schemes under the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act for certain categories of unapproved layouts), the process involves a separate application under that scheme, payment of regularisation fees, and then the standard Khata upgrade. Regularisation schemes are periodic and not guaranteed — do not buy a property banking on a future scheme that has not been announced.

Realistic timeline: 4 to 9 months for straightforward Khata A conversions. Longer if there are objections, encumbrances, or bureaucratic backlogs. The BBMP's online Sakala portal now tracks application status, which provides some accountability.

Which Banks Give Loans on Khata B?

Most major banks refuse home loans and plot loans on Khata B properties. The reasoning is straightforward: the bank's legal department will not accept collateral that has regulatory risk, cannot get a building plan sanction, and could be subject to a demolition order.

• HDFC Bank / HDFC Ltd: Flat refusal on Khata B. No exceptions in Bangalore for residential plot loans.
• SBI: Has occasionally processed loans on Khata B properties where DC Conversion exists and Khata A conversion is demonstrably in progress. But this is branch-specific and officer-discretionary — do not rely on it.
• ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak: Generally refuse Khata B. Some branches may process under their "plot loan" products with additional conditions, but this is rare and involves higher documentation scrutiny.
• NBFCs (Piramal, Bajaj Housing Finance, Aavas Financiers): Some NBFCs will lend on Khata B in specific layouts if the DC Conversion is confirmed. Expect 1.5 to 2.5 percentage points higher than the prevailing home loan rate, stricter LTV (loan-to-value) ratios of 50-60% instead of 75-80%, and personal guarantees in some cases.

If a seller or agent tells you that a particular bank has already approved a loan on a Khata B plot "in the same layout," ask for the sanction letter in writing. Do not take oral assurances.

5 Questions to Ask Before Buying Any Plot in Bangalore

1. Is the DC Conversion order available? Ask for a certified copy. Match the survey number to the site plan. If the seller cannot produce this, the property is agricultural land regardless of what any agent says.
2. Is the layout approved by BDA, BBMP, or BMRDA? Ask for the layout sanction number. Cross-check it on the BBMP or BDA website. Unapproved layouts are by definition at demolition risk.
3. Is the Khata A or Khata B? Ask for the Khata Certificate and Extract. If it is Khata B, ask specifically why — is it a procedural delay or a fundamental legal gap?
4. Is the property within any lake, naala, or forest buffer zone? Use BBMP's online GIS map or the SRDH Bhoomi portal to check. Even a technically approved layout within a buffer zone faces HYDRAA/BBMP demolition risk.
5. What does the 30-year Encumbrance Certificate say? An EC from the sub-registrar's office will show all registered transactions, mortgages, and liens. Any undisclosed mortgage or court attachment is a red flag that should stop the transaction immediately.

Brickplot's Recommendation

Khata A is non-negotiable for first-time plot buyers and for anyone planning to build within 5 years. If you are looking at a Khata B property because the price is attractive, factor in the total cost: betterment charges, legal fees for conversion, the time value of money during the conversion process, and the risk premium for a property that cannot be mortgaged. In many cases, the discount is not worth it.

For buyers in peripheral areas like Anekal, Hoskote, Bidadi, and Doddaballapur — where a large proportion of available plots are Khata B — prioritise layouts by RERA-registered developers with documented DC Conversion and layout approval. The additional premium over raw Khata B land is typically 20 to 40%, and it is money well spent.