Buying Agricultural Land in Telangana: What to Check Before You Pay

This guide is for people in Hyderabad buying farmland, or plots carved out of agricultural land, in Ranga Reddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Sangareddy, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri and nearby districts, and for NRIs asked to invest in farmland. It explains the Bhu Bharati land record and passbook, how agricultural land is registered at the Tahsildar’s office, the laws that make some land unsaleable (assigned land, ceiling surplus, Government and endowment land, Scheduled Areas), conversion to non-agricultural use, the rule for NRIs, and where record and title disputes go.

Bhu Bharati and the passbook · How it is registered · Assigned land · Ceiling surplus · Prohibited property · Conversion (NALA) · NRIs and OCIs · Errors and disputes · Checklist

Bhu Bharati and the passbook

The Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act, 2025 (Act No. 1 of 2025; quoted here from the Gazette copy hosted by PRS Legislative Research) is the land records law for agricultural land.

• Dharani replaced: section 23 repeals the Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 2020, and says “The word ‘Dharani’ or ‘Dharani Portal’ found in the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018 or the Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019 or the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, 1955 or any other Act shall be replaced with ‘RoR Portal’.” Actions taken under the 2020 Act “until it was in force shall be valid and enforceable”.
• The portal: the RoR Portal “shall be called as ‘Bhu Bharati'”, and the Record of Rights is “stored electronically and made available in RoR portal” (sections 2(25) and 4(3)). The Record of Rights kept under the 2020 Act is deemed to continue “until a new Record of Rights is prepared” (section 4(4)).
• Commencement: the Act comes into force “on such date or dates as the Government may, by notification in official gazette, appoint” (section 1(3)).
• The passbook: owners entered in the Record of Rights “shall be given Pattadar Pass Book-cum-Title Deed” (section 10(1)). It has “the same evidentiary value with regard to the title for the purpose of creation of equitable mortgage” as a registered document (section 10(5)). That provision is about mortgages; it does not make the passbook conclusive proof of title.
• A rebuttable presumption: “Every entry in the Record of Rights shall be presumed to be true and correct until the contrary is proved or until it is otherwise amended in accordance with the provisions of this Act” (section 11).
• Loans on the land: bank loans may be recorded in the Record of Rights, and every recorded loan “shall be deemed to have been secured by a charge on the land or interests of the borrower” (section 10(6) and (7)).

How agricultural land is registered

• At the Tahsildar’s office: for agricultural land, the “Registrar” is “the Tahsildar-cum-Joint Sub-Registrar of the Mandal where in the land is located”; for non-agricultural land and abadi, the Sub-Registrar (section 2(22)).
• Slot booking: anyone who intends to transfer agricultural land by sale, gift, mortgage, exchange or partition “shall apply, through the website prescribed for this purpose, to the Registrar for allotting available date and time to present the document” (section 5(1)). The Bhu Bharati home page describes the steps as data entry, payment, downloading the e-challan, and slot booking.
• When the Registrar registers: the Act says the Registrar shall register “In every case where the pattadar and property particulars in the document are in consonance with the entries in the Record of Rights and not prohibited for registration under the Telangana Scheduled Areas Land Transfer Regulation, 1959 and the Telangana Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977 or any other State or Central law”, and on payment of stamp duty, registration fee and mutation charges (section 5(4)).
• Who must attend: the Bhu Bharati FAQ says: “Seller, Buyer, Witness 1 and Witness 2 have to be present.” It lists the seller’s passbook, the buyer’s passbook if any, the original document, the e-challan, PAN (or Form 61) and Aadhaar.
• Mutation: “Immediately after the document is registered, the Tahsildar shall carry out the consequent amendment to the relevant entries in the Record of Rights” (section 5(5)), and a new or updated passbook is to be issued “instantly after effecting the changes” (section 5(7)). The FAQ says the passbook “will be updated on the same day”, and that a new physical passbook is sent by post with an ePPB issued the same day.
• Stamp duty: the Registration and Stamps Department’s Ready Reckoner (read on 29 October 2026) has no separate row for agricultural land. For a sale deed it lists 5.5% stamp duty, 0% transfer duty and 2% registration fee in a Gram Panchayat area, and 5.5% stamp duty, 1.5% transfer duty and 0.5% registration fee in other areas, on “MARKET VALUE (OR) CONSIDERATION WHICH EVER IS HIGHER”. Confirm the charges shown on the portal before you pay.
• The model deed: the department’s model “Sale Deed for Agriculture Lands” has the seller declare that the land “is not an assigned land” and is not attracted by the ceiling law. A seller’s declaration does not cure a statutory bar on transfer.

Assigned land

Assigned land is Government land given to landless or homeless poor persons on a condition that it is not to be sold. The Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977, which the Bhu Bharati Act calls the Telangana Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977, is quoted here as the Supreme Court quoted it in Yadaiah v State of Telangana (1 August 2023), where the Court referred to it as the Andhra Pradesh Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act of 1977:

• Definition: “‘assigned lands’ means lands or house sites assigned by the Government to the landless or homeless poor persons under the rules for the time being in force, subject to condition of non-alienation and includes lands allotted or transferred to landless or homeless poor persons under the relevant law for the time being in force relating to land ceilings”.
• No transfer: such land “shall not be transferred and shall be deemed never to have been transferred; and accordingly no right or title in such assigned land shall vest in any person acquiring the land by such transfer” (section 3(1)). “Any transfer or acquisition made in contravention … shall be deemed to be null and void” (section 3(3)), and this applies even to a transaction in execution of a civil court decree (section 3(4)).
• Resumption: the Collector or an authorised officer may “take possession of the assigned land after evicting the person in possession”, and crops and buildings may be forfeited (section 4(1)(a)). Where assigned land is in the possession of someone other than the original assignee or his legal heir, “it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that there is a contravention” (section 4(5)).
• A GPA counts as a transfer: in Yadaiah, the Court held that the phrase “any other transaction” in the 1977 Act’s definition of “transfer” includes a GPA “executed as an instrument to surrender ownership and possessory rights”, and that the GPA in that case “constitutes a ‘transfer’ under the 1977 Act and consequently would also result in violation of Section 3”. It upheld the resumption and held the appellants, who claimed through the original assignees, “not entitled to any compensation”.
• Ranga Reddy land: in Revenue Divisional Officer, Chevella v Mohd. Syeed Ather (2 January 2025), concerning land in Serilingampally mandal, the Supreme Court set aside a High Court judgment and sent the writ petitions back for fresh consideration in the light of Yadaiah and “the condition of non-alienability contained in the revised assignment policy”.

The Bhu Bharati FAQ shows that a record can carry a flag “Marked as assigned land”, and gives a modification route where a pattadar says this is wrong. Check the land’s nature and classification in the Record of Rights before paying anything.

Ceiling surplus

• Registration barred: under section 22-A(1)(d) of the Registration Act as in force in Telangana, documents relating to “agricultural or urban lands declared as surplus under the Telangana Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973 or the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976” are not to be registered.
• A sale by a holder over the ceiling: in Agnigundala Venkata Ranga Rao v Indukuru Ramachandra Reddy (13 April 2017), under the Andhra Pradesh Act, the Supreme Court held that a sale of land made in 1975 by a person holding land in excess of the ceiling “was null and void”, and that the buyers “could not acquire any rights, title and interest in the suit land” through it.
• Possession under an agreement: in State of A.P. v Singireddy Ramulu (12 December 2007), the Court quoted the Constitution Bench’s reading that the same land “can be held by one person in one capacity and by another person in a different capacity” and “shall be included in the holdings of both such persons”.

Prohibited property

• Section 22-A: registration is barred for documents relating to property “the alienation or transfer of which is prohibited under any statute”, Government property executed by persons not statutorily empowered, and endowment or wakf property executed by persons not statutorily empowered, among others. The registering officer “shall refuse to register” documents relating to notified properties (section 22-A(3)).
• Bhu Bharati’s list: the portal has a “Prohibited Lands” list for agricultural land and a grievance route “for removal from Prohibited List”. It also acknowledges cases where “even though a small extent of land is acquired by the Government in a survey number, entire survey number is categorized as acquired due to mistake in entries”, with a correction route decided by the Collector.
• Government and inam land: the Bhu Bharati Act says “Nothing in this Act shall apply to the lands belonging to the State Government or Central Government” (section 3(1)), and inam lands “shall be recorded and maintained as Government lands in the Revenue records” (section 3(4)), except where an occupancy rights certificate has been granted under the Telangana Abolition of Inams Act, 1955 (section 3(6)).
• Scheduled Areas: in Agency tracts, Regulation 1 of 1959, as quoted by the Telangana High Court, makes a transfer of immovable property “absolutely null and void” unless it is in favour of a member of a Scheduled Tribe or a society composed solely of members of the Scheduled Tribes.

See our guide on the section 22-A prohibited property list.

Converting to non-agricultural use (NALA)

• The law: conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural use is governed by the Act that the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration lists as “The Telangana Agricultural Land Conversion for Non-Agricultural Purposes Act 2006”.
• Through the portal: the Bhu Bharati FAQ says “Agricultural land can be converted to NALA and system will auto calculate and display the NALA charges to be paid before slot booking”. Land converted earlier but still shown as agricultural goes through “Application for Pending NALA”. The user manual says the completed application “is successfully submitted to the Tahsildar for further processing.”
• After conversion: for non-agricultural and abadi land, the document is registered with the Sub-Registrar, and mutation follows the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, the Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019 and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, 1955 (section 5(9) of Bhu Bharati).

Plots sold out of farmland raise separate layout and building questions. See our guides on property document verification and FTL and buffer zones.

NRIs and OCIs

RBI’s Master Direction on acquisition and transfer of immovable property under FEMA (updated as on 1 September 2022), which restates the Non-debt Instruments Rules, 2019, says:

• Purchase: “An NRI or an OCI can acquire by way of purchase any immovable property (other than agricultural land/ plantation property/ farm house) in India.” The same exclusion applies to a gift to an NRI or OCI.
• Inheritance: “An NRI or an OCI can acquire any immovable property in India by way of inheritance from a person resident in India”.
• Transfer: an NRI or OCI may transfer any immovable property to a person resident in India, but may transfer property to another NRI or OCI only if it is not “agricultural land or plantation property or farmhouse”.
• Bhu Bharati: the FAQ says NRIs can register on an NRI portal and apply for a passbook. That concerns NRIs who already own land, for example by inheritance; it does not change the purchase rule.

Record errors and disputes

• Rectification: “Any person affected by an entry made in such Record of Rights may, within the prescribed period apply for rectification of the entry to such officer as may be prescribed” (section 4(5)). A person in lawful possession with no entry may apply for a new entry (section 4(6)).
• Appeals: orders of the Tahsildar on mutation may be appealed to the Revenue Divisional Officer “within a period of sixty days”, and then to the District Collector within thirty days, whose decision “shall be final”; orders of the Revenue Divisional Officer under sections 6(2) and 8(2) go to the District Collector within sixty days and then to the Land Tribunal within thirty days, whose decision “shall be final and conclusive”; appeals against rectification orders under section 4(5) and (6) lie within thirty days to the next authority up (section 15). Until a Land Tribunal is constituted, “the Commissioner shall be deemed to be Land Tribunal” (section 14).
• Title in the civil court: a person aggrieved as to a right of which he is in possession by an entry “may institute a suit … for declaration of his right under Chapter-VI of the Specific Relief Act, 1963, and the entry in the Record of Rights shall be amended in accordance with any such declaration” (section 18).
• Records can be reopened: the Commissioner may examine records of Government, endowment, wakf, Bhoodan, assigned or lavuni land where they were “changed fraudulently or by playing mischief or against the provisions of any State or Central law” (section 16), and a passbook issued fraudulently for Government land is to be cancelled and the land resumed (section 20(1)).
• Old unregistered purchases: section 6 concerns unregistered transfers made before 2 June 2014 to small or marginal farmers who have been in possession for more than twelve years and who applied between 12 October 2020 and 10 November 2020; it provides that the Government may, by notification, order those applications to be processed. Section 6(3) says it does not validate transfers in breach of the ceiling, urban land ceiling, Scheduled Areas or assigned lands laws.
• GPAs: the FAQ says a GPA registered before Bhu Bharati can be used for a transaction only after the GPA holder applies and the Collector approves it.

See our guides on forged sale deeds, illegal possession and GPA and agreements of sale.

Checklist

• The seller’s passbook, and the Bhu Bharati Record of Rights for each survey number: name, extent, land nature and classification.
• Whether the land is flagged as assigned, Government, inam, acquired or prohibited, on Bhu Bharati and on the Registration Department’s prohibited properties page.
• How the seller acquired the land: the chain of registered documents and mutations.
• Any loan or charge recorded against the land.
• Whether the area is a Gram Panchayat, municipality or GHMC area, and whether the land has been converted.
• Any court case or “Court Cases & Intimation” block on the survey number.
• For NRI buyers: the FEMA restriction on purchasing agricultural land.
• A physical inspection of the land and of who is in possession.

Related guides: property document verification, encumbrance certificate, section 22-A list, GPA and agreements of sale, land acquisition compensation and partition of family property.

For a discussion about buying agricultural land, a land record or a title question with Musab Hashmi & Associates, call +91 89771 24916 or send an enquiry. Do not include identity numbers or copies of documents in the first message.

General legal information, not legal advice. Checked on 29 October 2026 against the Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act, 2025 (Gazette copy hosted by PRS Legislative Research), the Registration Act, 1908 as in force in Telangana on 2 June 2014 (Registration and Stamps Department text), the Bhu Bharati portal’s FAQ, prohibited lands page and user manuals, the Registration and Stamps Department’s Ready Reckoner and model agricultural sale deed, RBI’s Master Direction on acquisition and transfer of immovable property under FEMA (updated as on 1 September 2022), the Supreme Court judgments in Yadaiah v State of Telangana (1 August 2023), Revenue Divisional Officer, Chevella v Mohd. Syeed Ather (2 January 2025), Agnigundala Venkata Ranga Rao v Indukuru Ramachandra Reddy (13 April 2017) and State of A.P. v Singireddy Ramulu (12 December 2007), and the Telangana High Court’s order in W.P. No. 21405 of 2007 (26 April 2023).