Despite having standard land measurement units, a lot of places in India prefer to use local units when measuring land. They are more popular than the international standards, given their popularity and convenience.
Since India is a diverse country, different parts of the country use different land measurement units based on popularity. Some of the most popular units used in India are hectare, acre, square meter, etc. Officially, the land is measured in standardized units only, and the same is written in the official documents. To get a good idea of the size of each unit, continue reading the article.
Some standard units used throughout the country
- Square foot/ sq ft: The most commonly used land measurement unit is used throughout India. One square foot is equal to 0.11 square yards. By law, all developers selling properties have to notify the area of their projects in terms of sq ft. It is an imperial unit used throughout the world. Some other countries using this unit include the US, UK, Canada, Liberia, etc.
- Square yard: A larger unit that sq ft with one square yard measuring 9 sq ft. Widely used across the world to measure residential real estate, it is also fairly popular in India. Some local states like Haryana use the square yard as the measurement unit when fixing circle rates.
- Square metre/ sq m: A square metre is the unit area equalling the area covered by a square with a side of one metre. 1 sq m equals 10.76 sq ft and is a common land measurement unit in India. As sq m is a unit that is chiefly used to measure areas, it is generally avoided when measuring length or distance.
- Acre: One of the oldest existing units across the globe to measure large areas of land. It is a part of the imperial units and the US system. A modern acre is equal to 43,560 sq ft, 4,047 sq m, 4,840 square yards, and 0.4047 hectares. An acre is roughly one furlong long and 4 rods wide.
- Hectare: A commonly used unit of the metric system is used to measure large plots of land such as farmland. It was made in the year 1795 and is equal to 1,07,639 sq ft. To put it simply, a hectare is roughly around the size of a football field.
Land measurement units used in East India
- Dhur: Used mostly in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. One dhur in Bihar is 68 sq ft and 3.66 sq ft in Tripura.
- Katta: It also has different values ranging from 600 to 2800 sq ft. States, where the unit is still used, are West Bengal, Bihar, and Assam.
- Chatak: It is mostly used in West Bengal and the neighbouring country of Bangladesh. One chatak is equal to 45 sq ft.
- Lecha: Lecha is a unit that is mostly only used in Assam. One Lecha is equal to 144 sq ft.
Land measurement units used in North and Western India
- Bigha: There is no standard value, and its exact value differs from state to state from 8712 to 27225 sq ft. Despite its popularity, it is not used in any southern Indian states.
- Gaj: Commonly used in northern India, one gaj is usually 9 sq ft. It used to be quite popular before falling out of favour.
- Biswa: Used in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, and Uttrakhand, one biswa is anywhere from 50 to 150 square yards.
- Killa: A killa is traditionally equal to 1 acre. In the case of rectangular land measurement, it is equal to 220 ft multiplied by 198 ft.
- Kanal: Used in rural parts of Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab. A kanal is equal to 5,455 sq ft or 1/8th of an acre.
- Marla: One of the first measurement units used in India. One marla is equal to 272.25 sq ft.
Land measurement units used in South India
- Ankanam: This unit is popularly used in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. 1 ankanam is equal to 72 sq ft.
- Guntha: Guntha is used to measure the land area in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. One gunta is equal to 1,089 sq ft.
- Cent: Cent is the measuring unit used in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. A cent is equal to 435.6 sq ft.
- Ground: This measuring unit is only popular in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. One ground is equal to 2,400 sq ft.
Conclusion
Land measurement is an integral part of transactions in real estate. Since the cost of the property depends on its land area, having a proper understanding of the units used is vital. To avoid confusion and to be on the same page, every party involved should know about the units used in the transaction.
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