How to buy agricultural land in Uttar Pradesh

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, and every plot is different; for a purchase, use a local advocate who handles revenue matters.

Step 1: Who owns the land, and can they sell it?

Search the khatauni (record of rights) on UP Bhulekh by district, tehsil and village, then by khata or gata (plot) number. Check that:

• the seller’s name appears, with their share if there are co-owners;
• every co-owner who has a share will sign the sale deed;
• the holding is with transferable rights. Land held with non-transferable rights (asankramaniya), or allotted on a government lease (patta), cannot be sold freely;
• the plot is not recorded as gram sabha land, pond, pasture or a chak road, which cannot be bought privately.

Our khatauni and khasra guide explains each entry.

Step 2: Is the village notified for acquisition?

Ask at the tehsil and the district land acquisition office whether the village is under a preliminary notification for a road, interchange or industrial node. After a notification, private sales of affected land are restricted, and compensation follows official rates rather than the price you paid. Along the Jewar link, UPEIDA froze land sales in July 2025, well before construction. See notified villages and acquisition risk.

Step 3: What is on the ground?

Visit with the village map (shajra) and, ideally, the lekhpal. Walk the boundaries, find the access road and who owns it, and check for electricity, irrigation, encroachment and standing crops. Ask neighbours whether the boundary is disputed.

Step 4: Is the title clean?

Search past registered deeds through IGRSUP to see whether the plot was already sold or mortgaged. Ask the tehsil and revenue court about pending cases. Check whether the village is under consolidation (chakbandi), when plot numbers can change.

Step 5: What will registration cost?

Stamp duty is charged on the higher of the agreed price and the value at the district circle rate. Find the circle rate for the village on IGRSUP. The current stamp duty rate is Data not yet verified on this site until we confirm it from IGRSUP; see the circle rate and stamp duty guide.

Step 6: Register, then get mutation

Sign and register the sale deed at the sub-registrar office; both parties attend with identity documents and witnesses. Then apply for mutation (dakhil kharij) at the tehsil so the khatauni shows your name. Keep the certified copies.

Who should not buy agricultural land?

NRIs and OCI cardholders cannot buy agricultural land in India, except by inheritance. Buyers planning to build houses or a factory need to know that farmland generally must be declared for non-agricultural use first; see agricultural land conversion.