By default all lands are agricultural lands. Except for agriculture purpose, permission is necessary for non agricultural purposes like Residential, Commercial etc. which is known as Land Conversion i.e. changing the status of land from agriculture to Non-agriculture.

If the land was confirmed by occupancy right in the Land Tribunals As per Karnataka Land Reforms Act 1976, Deputy Commissioner is the authority to issue conversion order. For other lands i.e. Patta lands, Tahsildar is the authority to issue conversion order.

Application should be in prescribed Form-I for Land Reforms tenanted Lands and Form No.21A for Patta lands and it should be submitted to the Tahasildar concerned.

For LRT Land:
a. R.T.C. in 3 copies.
b. Sketch of the land in 3 copies
c. Certified copy of Land Tribunal Order.
d. Certified copy of Form-10-Occupancy right.
e. Zonal certificate from Urban Development Authority/Town Planning Authority along with the opinion.
f. Title Deed (Back Documents)
g. No Dues Certificate issued by Village accountant.
h. MR order copy
For Patta Land:
a. Certified copy of the document of the land which the right has been transferred to applicant.
b. Sketch of the land in triplicate.
c. R.T.C. in triplicate.
d. No Dues Certificate issued by Village accountant.
e. MR order copy

PS: In addition, following documents have to be submitted wherever applicable:
-if the land is near sea shore or river side, CRZ NOC
-if the conversion is for commercial purposes, NOC from the concerned authority

Tahasildar/Revenue Inspectors will visit the spot and confirm whether proper approach road is available to the land and also verify the Land Tribunal’s Original records and other documents submitted by the applicant. In case of patta lands, conversion order will be issued by the Tahsiladar. In case of LRT lands, report will be sent to the DC office. Again the verification will be done at each stage in Deputy Commissioner’s office as per rules. On successful verification, the land conversion application will be approved and the notice will be issued to the party to remit the conversion fees and other fees, if any, to the Government. The party has to remit the conversion fees and submit the original challan receipt and an agreement made in Rs.100/- stamp paper in the prescribed format to the office, following which the conversion order will be issued to the party.

Fee Payable for conversion is as follows:
Residential Purpose (Rate per Cent)
a. 12 K.M.s within City Corporation Limit – Rs. 327.00
b. Taluk Centre – Rs. 218.00
c. Rural – Rs. 89.00
Commercial Purpose (Rate per cent)
a. 12 K.M.s within City Corporation Limit – Rs. 654.00
b. Taluk Centre – Rs. 327.00
c. Rural – Rs. 218.00

Penalty is the fine applicant has to pay for having built house/building etc on the proposed land before conversion. Penalty will not be levied in case the house/building on proposed land was built on or before 2-10-1980. And for house/building built after that period, penalty will be levied as per rules. Applicant should provide the necessary documents of tax receipts or any other documents to prove whether the building/house was constructed before or after 2-10-1980. The Rate of Penalty Payable at the time of conversion is as follows:
Residential (Rate per Sq. ft.)
a. 12 K.M.s within City Corporation Limit – Rs. 7.00
b. Taluk Centre – Rs. 3.00
c. Rural – Rs. 0.25
Commercial (Rate per Sq. ft.)
a. 12 K.M.s within City Corporation Limit – Rs. 34.50
b. Taluk Centre – Rs. 14.50
c. Rural – Rs. 1.20