Land Measurement Blog — India
Fifteen guides to bigha, acre, katha, guntha, kanal and marla — each starting from the state the figure belongs to.
Fundamentals
What a bigha is, why it varies, and the full comparison table.
FundamentalsWhat Is a Bigha? India's Traditional Land Measurement Unit ExplainedA bigha is a customary Indian land unit with no fixed size. Here is where it comes from, how it is divided, and what it is worth in each major state.Read the guideFundamentalsWhy Does Bigha Size Vary by State? A Complete GuideThe bigha is older than the metric system and older than India's state boundaries. That history is exactly why one word means eight thousand square feet in one place and twenty-seven thousand in another.Read the guideFundamentalsBigha to Acre: A State-by-State Comparison TableThirteen states, their bigha in square feet, the bigha-per-acre ratio and the local sub-unit — in one table, with every competing convention noted.Read the guide
State guides
State-by-state guides for the places where the conversion causes the most trouble.
State guidesAcre to Bigha in Uttar Pradesh: What Landowners Should KnowUttar Pradesh has the widest internal spread of any Indian state — pucca, kaccha and a western bigha a quarter the size. Here is how to tell which one applies to your land.Read the guideState guidesBigha vs Acre in West Bengal: Conversion, Katha and ContextWest Bengal is one of the few states where the bigha is effectively standardised at 14,400 square feet. That makes the arithmetic reliable — and the katha the thing to watch.Read the guideState guidesLand Measurement Units in Gujarat: Vigha, Guntha and AcreIn Gujarat the vigha is unstable but the guntha is not. Understanding that one fact is the difference between a clean deal and a fifty per cent error.Read the guideState guidesPunjab and Haryana Land Measurement: Kanal, Marla and Bigha ExplainedIn Punjab and Haryana the bigha is a secondary unit and the sources disagree about it. Kanal and marla are what actually appear in the revenue record.Read the guideState guidesRajasthan's Bigha: Pucca vs Kaccha and What It Means for BuyersA pucca bigha is 27,225 square feet and a kaccha bigha is 17,424. On a ten-bigha purchase that gap is nearly two and a quarter acres of land.Read the guideState guidesAssam's Bigha and Other Northeast Indian Land Units ExplainedAssam shares West Bengal's bigha but not its katha — a five-versus-twenty difference that quietly quadruples any katha-quoted price.Read the guide
Buying land
Verification, pricing and the checks to run before you agree a figure.
Buying landHow to Verify Local Land Measurement Units Before Buying Property in IndiaA step-by-step check: which office to ask, which document states the area, and the four questions that catch almost every measurement dispute before it starts.Read the guideBuying landCommon Mistakes When Converting Bigha to Acre for Real Estate DealsSeven conversion errors that show up repeatedly in Indian land deals, what each one costs, and the single question that prevents most of them.Read the guideBuying landHow Real Estate Agents Price Land Using Bigha and AcreWhy the same plot is quoted per bigha to one buyer and per square foot to another, and how to normalise the two before you compare prices.Read the guideBuying landBuying Agricultural Land in India: A Guide to Local Measurement UnitsFrom the first listing to the registry: where measurement units enter the process, which documents restate the area, and what to reconcile at each stage.Read the guide
History & context
Where these units came from and how they coexist with the metric system.
History & contextThe History of the Bigha: From Mughal Revenue Records to Modern IndiaHow a unit defined by the length of a measuring rod survived four centuries, three revenue systems and the metric system itself.Read the guideHistory & contextMetric vs Traditional: How Land Is Actually Measured in India TodayOfficial records are metric. Conversations, listings and family settlements are not. Here is how the two systems coexist and where they collide.Read the guide
Get the right number for your state
A wrong bigha can misprice a plot by half. Select your state, convert in one tap, then confirm the figure with your local land revenue office.
Commonly-cited approximate figure — confirm the exact local value with your state or district land revenue department before any transaction.