Glossary

Land-record, toll and planning terms used on this site, in plain English.

Asankramaniya bhumidhar: A bhumidhar with non-transferable rights, often holding land allotted under a government scheme. Such land generally cannot be sold. Check this status on the khatauni before buying.
Bainama (sale deed): The registered document that transfers ownership of land from seller to buyer. It is signed and registered at the sub-registrar office, with stamp duty paid.
Bayana (token money): An advance paid when buyer and seller agree a sale. Pay it only against a written agreement that names the plot, price, deadline and refund terms.
Bhumidhar: A landholder under the UP Revenue Code. A bhumidhar with transferable rights can sell, mortgage or gift the land; one with non-transferable rights cannot sell freely.
Bigha: A traditional land unit used in Uttar Pradesh. Its size varies by district and even by tehsil, so always convert using the local value, not a general one.
Biswa: A subdivision of a bigha, conventionally one-twentieth of a bigha in UP. Because bigha size varies, so does the biswa.
Chainage: Distance along a road from a fixed starting point, usually in kilometres. For the Ganga Expressway, chainage is measured from the Meerut end.
Chakbandi (consolidation): A government process that consolidates scattered plots into compact holdings. During chakbandi, plot numbers and boundaries can change, so buying is riskier.
Circle rate: The minimum value per unit that the district administration sets for land in each area and category. Stamp duty is charged on the higher of the circle-rate value and the agreed price.
Closed tolling: A toll system in which your entry point is recorded and you pay at exit for the distance travelled. The Ganga Expressway uses closed, distance-based tolling via FASTag.
Dakhil kharij (mutation): Updating the revenue record so that the khatauni shows the new owner after a sale or inheritance. Done at the tehsil after the sale deed is registered.
DBFOT: Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer: a model where a private builder designs, finances and builds a road, operates it for a period, then transfers it to the government. Used for the Ganga Expressway.
Diamond interchange: An interchange with four straight ramps meeting the crossing road at two junctions. Compact, but with junctions on the crossing road.
DPR (detailed project report): The engineering and financial report that fixes a projects alignment, length and cost. The Meerut–Haridwar spurs DPR is the next step after its 2026 approval.
EPC: Engineering, Procurement and Construction: a contract where the government pays a builder to design and build a road, and keeps ownership and operation. Used for the Farrukhabad link.
Gata number: The number of an individual plot in the village records. Sale deeds and searches on UP Bhulekh use it to identify the exact land.
Gram sabha land: Land vested in the village body, such as ponds, pastures and chak roads. It cannot be bought from private sellers, whatever papers they show.
IMLC: Integrated Manufacturing and Logistics Cluster: a planned industrial area beside an expressway. The Ganga Expressway corridor plans one IMLC node in each of its 12 districts.
Interchange: A grade-separated junction where traffic enters or leaves an access-controlled expressway. Land along an expressway gets access only through interchanges.
Khasra: The village plot register. It records each plot by its gata (plot) number, with area, land class and use. Used with the khatauni to confirm that a plot exists and what it is.
Khata: A holding: the group of plots held by the same owner or owners in a village, identified by a khata number in the khatauni.
Khatauni: The record of rights for agricultural land in Uttar Pradesh. It lists each holding (khata), its owners and their shares, and the class of rights they hold. Searchable on UP Bhulekh.
Land-sale freeze: An order stopping registration of land sales in an area marked for a project, sometimes before formal acquisition. UPEIDA used one along the Jewar link alignment in July 2025.
Lekhpal: The village-level revenue official who maintains land records and can help identify plots on the ground.
Preliminary notification: The first formal notice that the government intends to acquire land for a project. After it, transactions in the notified land need the Collectors permission.
Ramp toll plaza: A toll plaza on an interchange ramp rather than across the main carriageway. On a closed system, these record entry and charge at exit.
Section 80 declaration: A declaration by the SDM under the UP Revenue Code, 2006 that agricultural land may be used for industrial, commercial or residential purposes. It replaced the old Section 143 procedure.
Shajra (village map): The map of a village showing every plot with its gata number. Used to locate a plot on the ground, ideally with the lekhpal.
Stamp duty: A state tax paid when a sale deed is registered, calculated on the higher of the deal value and the circle-rate value. Current UP rates are published on IGRSUP.
TOD (transit-oriented development): Planning that concentrates housing and commerce near public transport stations. The MDA Master Plan 2031 earmarks land for TOD along Meeruts rapid-rail corridor.
Trumpet interchange: An interchange shaped like a trumpet, with one loop ramp, used where a road meets the expressway at a T. The NH-334 Meerut–Hapur interchange is a trumpet.
UP RERA: The Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority. Plotted and housing projects above the legal thresholds, and the agents who sell them, must register with it.
UPEIDA: Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority, the state body that develops and operates the Ganga Expressway and other UP expressways.