Has Maharashtra Scrapped NA Permission in 2026?
The Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Second Amendment) Act, 2025, notified on 31 December 2025, abolished separate non-agricultural permission. Sections 42A to 42D and 44 to 47A were deleted, Section 47 was substituted, and the recurring annual NA assessment tax was replaced by a one-time premium of 0.10% to 0.50% of market value. Conversion now happens through building plan approval. Title, tenure and zoning were not touched.
If you have bought land in Maharashtra before, you will remember the NA file. The application to the Collector, the site inspection, the waiting, the Sanad that finally arrived months later, and then the annual non-agricultural assessment tax that followed you for as long as you held the plot.
That system has been dismantled. For anyone buying a plot in Karjat, Khopoli, Raigad or anywhere else in the state, it is the most significant procedural change in land conversion in decades — and it is also being widely misdescribed by people selling land. Here is what actually changed, and what did not.
What did the amendment remove?
It substituted Section 42 and deleted Sections 42A to 42D and 44 to 47A, removing the separate NA application and the Collector’s Sanad entirely; Section 47 was rewritten to hold the new one-time premium framework.
The Act substituted Section 42 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, the provision that required the Collector’s permission to convert land from agricultural to non-agricultural use. Around it:
- Sections 42A to 42D deleted. These created narrow deemed-conversion routes for land inside sanctioned development plan limits, Gaothan expansion areas and certain regional plan zones. The general rule made them redundant.
- Sections 44 to 47A deleted. These governed the conversion procedure and the assessment that followed it.
- Section 47 substituted. This is where the new one-time premium framework sits.
In plain terms: there is no longer a separate NA application, and no separate Sanad to chase.
What replaces the old NA conversion process?
Conversion now happens through the planning process itself: the planning authority’s approval of your building plan or layout operates as the land-use conversion, backed by a one-time premium instead of the recurring annual NA assessment tax.
Conversion now happens through the planning process itself. When the town planning department or the relevant planning authority approves your building plan or layout, that approval operates as the land-use conversion. The change of use and the development permission are one step instead of two.
The new one-time premium framework
The recurring annual NA assessment tax is gone. In its place is a one-time conversion premium, calculated as a percentage of market value and scaled by plot size:
| Plot area | One-time premium |
|---|---|
| Up to 1,000 sq m | 0.10% of current market value |
| 1,001 to 4,000 sq m | 0.25% of current market value |
| Above 4,000 sq m | 0.50% of current market value |
Market value is determined using the Annual Statement of Rates — the ready reckoner — under the Maharashtra Stamp Rules, 1995. The premium must be paid before the planning authority grants development permission or approves building plans.
For land already converted under the old system, valuation is worked out using the Annual Statement of Rates from the year of conversion, or from 2001, depending on the case.
The state has also waived recovery of pending annual NA tax accrued up to the reform date, and banks have been directed not to insist on an NA certificate as a condition of loan approval.
What does this change in practice for a buyer?
The timeline shortens because the NA queue is gone, the open-ended annual tax becomes a single known premium payable at development, and the document that matters shifts from an NA Sanad to the planning authority’s approval.
The timeline shortens. The NA application was frequently the longest single step between buying land and being able to build on it. Folding conversion into building plan approval removes an entire administrative queue.
The carrying cost changes shape. An annual tax that ran indefinitely has become a single known number payable at the point of development. For a 2,000 sq m plot the premium is 0.25% of ready reckoner value — an amount you can calculate before you buy rather than an open-ended liability.
The paperwork you ask for changes. If a seller is still waving an NA Sanad as the headline proof of a plot’s status, that document reflects the old regime. What matters now is the planning authority’s approval and evidence that the premium position is clear.
What has not changed?
The reform simplified conversion only: who may buy agricultural land, tenure restrictions on Class II, inam, watan, devasthan and tribal land, zoning, and the title chain all still apply exactly as before.
Four things the 2025 reform did not touch
This is where buyers get into trouble, so it is worth being precise. The amendment simplified conversion. It did not touch several other things that still determine whether you can lawfully buy and build.
| Question | Changed by the 2025 amendment? | Who answers it now |
|---|---|---|
| Is separate NA permission needed? | Yes — abolished | No one; conversion follows planning sanction |
| Is there an annual NA tax? | Yes — replaced by a one-time premium | Revenue authority, at the point of development |
| May I build here? | No | The planning authority, under the applicable plan and zone |
| May I buy this agricultural land at all? | No | The agricultural land acquisition restrictions |
| Can this tenure be transferred? | No | The Collector, for Class II, inam, watan, devasthan, tribal land |
| Does the seller actually own it? | No | The title chain, the 7/12 and the mutation register |
Who may buy agricultural land. Maharashtra still restricts the purchase of agricultural land. If the land is agricultural at the time of sale, those restrictions continue to apply, independent of how conversion now works.
Tenure. Class II occupancy, inam, watan, devasthan and tribal-held lands carry their own restrictions and often require separate permissions before transfer or development. A parcel can be freely convertible and still be effectively untransferable because of its tenure.
Zoning. Deemed conversion through building plan approval only helps if the plot sits in a zone where the authority can lawfully sanction your intended use. Land in a no-development zone, a green zone, a CRZ belt or a reserved alignment is no easier to build on than before.
Title. The amendment changed a permission process. It did not make anyone’s chain of title cleaner. The 7/12 extract, the mutation entries, the chain of ownership and the encumbrance position all still need to be examined exactly as carefully as before.
Where does this go wrong?
Buyers stumble by assuming that with NA gone there is nothing left to check, by leaving a large-parcel premium unbudgeted, by accepting a stale Sanad as current proof, or by trusting a 7/12 extract that still records the land as agricultural.
Three misreadings that cost buyers most
“NA is not needed any more, so there is nothing to check.” The most expensive reading available. One queue was removed; four questions remain, and they are the harder ones.
An unbudgeted premium on a large parcel. At 0.50% of ready reckoner value on land above 4,000 sq m, this is a real number. Establish who bears it, and at which year’s valuation, before you sign.
A stale Sanad sold as current proof. Genuine document, wrong question. Ask for the zone position and the sanction instead.
A revenue record that still says agricultural. Conversion takes effect on sanction, but the 7/12 is updated by the revenue machinery through mutation. A lawful non-agricultural plot can carry an agricultural extract for a while. Harmless in law, inconvenient with lenders and the next buyer.
Questions worth asking before you buy
- What is the plot’s land-use zone under the applicable development plan, and does it permit what I intend to build?
- What is the tenure — occupant Class I, Class II, or something with restrictions attached?
- Which planning authority has jurisdiction, and has a layout or building plan approval already been granted?
- Has the premium been paid, and if not, who bears it and at what valuation?
- Does the 7/12 extract match the seller’s claimed ownership, and do the mutation entries tell a continuous story?
The wider point
Maharashtra has spent several years reducing the number of discretionary touchpoints between a landowner and a buildable plot. Abolishing separate NA permission fits that direction, and it makes plotted land a more predictable asset to underwrite, because one of the larger unknowns in the timeline has been removed.
It does not make due diligence optional. It makes it more focused. Title, tenure and zone now matter proportionally more, because the procedural step that used to sit alongside them has gone.
How Lords of the Lands handles this
On a plotted development the developer carries the conversion work, not the buyer — which is the practical difference between buying a plot in a sanctioned estate and buying a survey number from a seller. Across our Karjat, Khopoli and Raigad coast estates, the layout sanction, the premium position, the title flow and the record position are documented and available to read, and to hand to your own advocate, before any payment is taken.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still need an NA certificate for a home loan?
Banks have been directed not to insist on one as a condition of loan approval. Lenders in practice want the sanction and the record position, which is what the new framework produces.
Can I now build on agricultural land without approval?
No. You still need development permission or building plan sanction. What you no longer need is a separate conversion order in addition to it.
Is my existing Sanad worthless?
No. It remains valid evidence that conversion happened. It is simply no longer the operative document for the question of whether a plot is buildable today.
Does the premium apply again when I sell?
It is a one-time payment tied to the conversion, not a transfer levy. Stamp duty and registration on the sale are separate and unaffected.
When did this take effect?
The amending Act was notified on 31 December 2025.
Related reading
Title & records
- How to check a plot’s NA status
- How to read a 7/12 extract
- The land title checklist
- The property card and 8A
- Mutation entries (ferfar) explained
Approvals, RERA & building
- Building permission for a plot
- What ‘RERA-approved plots’ really means
- Verifying RERA on a plotted layout
- Building a house on an NA plot
- Right of way and plot access
Tenure & context
- The ‘other rights’ column on a 7/12
- Verifying title before you buy
- Registering a land sale in Maharashtra
- What the NA change means for a Khopoli-Pali plot
- Deemed NA through building plan approval
- How the one-time NA premium is calculated
- Is the NA Sanad still required?
- What NA land actually is
- Class I vs Class II tenure
- NA plot vs agricultural land
- Can an NRI buy land in India?
- Why NRIs cannot buy agricultural land
- The documents to check, in order
- What Lords of the Lands builds
Citations and sources
Sources: Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, Sections 42 and 47 as substituted and Sections 42A–42D and 44–47A as deleted by the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Second Amendment) Act, 2025, notified 31 December 2025; Maharashtra Stamp Rules, 1995 (Annual Statement of Rates). This article is general information current as of September 2026 and is not legal advice. The position for any specific parcel depends on its zone, tenure and planning authority — verify it with your advocate and the relevant revenue and planning authorities before transacting. Official sources: UDCPR / Urban Development Dept · Maharashtra Government Resolutions.
