India measures land in roughly a dozen units, most of them local, several of them meaning different things in different states. A broker in Mysore quotes guntas, one in Chennai quotes cents and grounds, one in Jaipur quotes bighas, and one in Ludhiana quotes kanals and marlas.
This page converts all of them. Bookmark it, because you will need it more than once.
The anchor: one acre
Everything below hangs off a single number.
1 acre = 43,560 square feet = 4,046.86 square metres = 0.4047 hectares.
The acre is the one unit that does not change meaning as you cross a state border, which is why registered documents and revenue records lean on it. When a local unit and an acre figure disagree on the same document, the acre figure is usually the one to trust.
The fixed national units
| Unit | Square feet | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 acre | 43,560 | 100 cents, 40 guntas |
| 1 hectare | 1,07,639 | 2.471 acres |
| 1 are | 1,076.39 | 100 sq m |
| 1 square yard (gaj) | 9 | - |
| 1 square metre | 10.764 | - |
A hectare is 100 ares, and an are is 100 square metres. Tamil Nadu and a few other states record land officially in hectares and ares while the market talks in acres and cents, which is where a great many disputes begin as arithmetic.
South India
| Unit | Square feet | Per acre | Where used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gunta / guntha | 1,089 | 40 | Karnataka, Maharashtra |
| Cent | 435.6 | 100 | Tamil Nadu, Kerala, parts of Karnataka and Andhra |
| Ground | 2,400 | 18.15 | Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai |
| Ankanam | 72 | 605 | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, parts of Karnataka |
A gunta is 121 square yards, which is why guntas and square yards convert cleanly. A cent is exactly one hundredth of an acre, which makes it the easiest unit on this page to reason about: 25 cents is a quarter acre, full stop.
North and west India
| Unit | Square feet | Per acre | Where used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kanal | 5,445 | 8 | Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, J&K |
| Marla | 272.25 | 160 | Punjab, Haryana |
| Killa | 43,560 | 1 | Punjab, Haryana (another word for acre) |
| Biswa (pucca) | 1,361.25 | 32 | Uttar Pradesh |
| Gaj | 9 | 4,840 | Common across the north |
Punjab and Haryana run on a clean binary: 20 marla make a kanal, 8 kanal make a killa, and a killa is an acre. If someone quotes you 4 kanal, that is half an acre.
East India
| Unit | Square feet | Per acre | Where used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Katha / cottah | 720 | 60.5 | West Bengal |
| Katha | 1,361 | 32 | Bihar |
| Katha | 2,880 | 15.1 | Assam |
| Chatak | 45 | 968 | West Bengal |
| Lecha | 144 | 302.5 | Assam |
| Decimal | 435.6 | 100 | Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal |
Note that a katha is three different sizes in three neighbouring states. This is not a typo and it is the single most common source of confusion in eastern India. A decimal, meanwhile, is numerically identical to a cent -- both are one hundredth of an acre -- it is simply the word used further east.
The bigha problem
A bigha has no fixed value. It ranges from about 6,800 square feet to about 27,000 square feet depending on where you are standing, which means "5 bigha" can describe anything from under an acre to more than three acres.
| State | Square feet per bigha | Bighas per acre |
|---|---|---|
| Uttar Pradesh (pucca) | 27,225 | 1.6 |
| Rajasthan (pucca) | 27,225 | 1.6 |
| Rajasthan (kaccha) | 17,424 | 2.5 |
| Bihar | 27,220 | 1.6 |
| Gujarat | 17,427 | 2.5 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 12,000 | 3.63 |
| West Bengal | 14,400 | 3.025 |
| Assam | 14,400 | 3.025 |
| Punjab, Haryana | 9,072 | 4.8 |
| Uttarakhand | 6,804 | 6.4 |
Because this catches people so often, it has a guide of its own.
Quick conversions people actually search for
- 1 acre = 40 guntas = 100 cents = 43,560 sq ft
- 1 gunta = 1,089 sq ft = 121 sq yards
- 1 cent = 435.6 sq ft (and 1 decimal is the same)
- 1 ground = 2,400 sq ft = 5.51 cents
- 1 kanal = 5,445 sq ft = 12.5 cents
- 1 hectare = 2.471 acres = 98.84 guntas
- 1 gaj = 1 square yard = 9 sq ft
- 17,424 sq ft = 0.4 acre (one kaccha bigha in Rajasthan)
Two cautions worth more than the tables
Local usage overrides the table. Several of these units vary by district, and a few vary by village. The values above are the ones in common use and the ones most records follow, but a surveyor in a particular taluk may use something slightly different. Where money is involved, ask what the local unit means rather than assuming.
The registered document governs, not the conversation. Whatever unit the negotiation happens in, the sale deed and the revenue record carry a specific extent in specific units. Confirm that the area on the deed, the area on the RTC or state record, and the area on the survey sketch all agree before money moves. A conversion error that nobody notices becomes a boundary dispute later. The method for checking is in verifying a survey number.
Related reading
- Why 1 bigha is a different size in every state
- What "2.36 acres" actually means on a listing -- the decimal trap that costs buyers real money
- South India's land units in detail
- North India's land units in detail
- The farmland site visit checklist -- measuring what you are actually buying
Browse listings with verified extents: farmland near Bangalore, agricultural land around Coimbatore, or farmland near Jaipur.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Land measurement units vary by state, district and local usage -- verify current requirements with a local property lawyer before making any purchase decision.
Written by
Agriva Editorial
The Agriva Editorial team writes practical, field-tested guides for buyers, sellers, and brokers navigating India's farmland and niche real estate market.