Do You Still Need an NA Sanad in Maharashtra?
Do you still need an NA Sanad in Maharashtra? No. The separate Sanad requirement was removed by the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Second Amendment) Act, 2025, issued 31 December 2025. An existing NA Sanad is still evidence of what happened historically — the terms and conditions your conversion was granted on — but it is no longer the operative document; building plan approval from the planning authority is. For the wider set of changes the 2025 amendment made, see our guide to the scrapped NA permission.
What was an NA Sanad?
The Sanad was the instrument the Collector issued when granting non-agricultural permission — recording that a parcel’s use had been converted, on what terms and subject to what conditions, and for decades the first document a buyer asked for.
The Sanad was the instrument the Collector issued on granting non-agricultural permission. It recorded that a parcel’s use had been converted, on what terms, and subject to what conditions.
For decades it was the document a buyer asked for first. If a plot had a Sanad, it was buildable; if it did not, you were looking at a conversion project.
What replaced it?
Nothing one-for-one — the step itself was removed. The Act substituted Section 42 and deleted Sections 42A to 42D and 44 to 47A, so building plan approval by the planning authority now operates as deemed NA permission.
Nothing, in the sense of a one-for-one substitute. The step itself was removed.
The Act substituted Section 42 of the Code — the provision requiring the Collector’s permission — and deleted Sections 42A to 42D and 44 to 47A. Conversion now happens inside the planning process: approval of your building plan by the town planning department or the relevant planning authority operates as deemed NA permission.
So the question “does this plot have a Sanad?” has been replaced by a different question: “what has the planning authority approved, and is the premium discharged?”
| Item | Before 31 Dec 2025 | Since 31 Dec 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Operative document | The Sanad (Collector’s NA order) | The planning authority’s building or layout plan approval, operating as deemed NA permission |
| Conversion step | A separate application for the Collector’s permission | Handled inside the planning process; no separate step |
| Premium / charge | Recurring non-agricultural assessment | One-time premium, due before the permission is granted |
| Bank loan requirement | NA certificate often insisted on | Banks directed not to insist on one |
| A plot with no Sanad | Read as “not converted” | No longer a red flag by itself |
Does an old Sanad still mean anything?
Yes, but less than sellers imply: it is reliable evidence that conversion happened on stated terms and may record conditions that still bind the land, yet it says nothing about the current zone, the premium position, or title and tenure.
Yes, but less than sellers imply. It is reliable evidence that conversion occurred at some point, on stated terms, and it may record conditions that still bind the land.
What it does not do is answer the questions that decide a purchase today. It says nothing about the current zone, nothing about whether the premium position is clear, and nothing about title or tenure.
Read it for the conditions it imposed. Do not read it as a clean bill of health.
What should you ask for instead?
Four things, none of them a Sanad: the planning authority with jurisdiction, the land-use zone under the development plan, any layout or building plan approval with its date and reference, and written confirmation of the premium position.
Four items that replace the Sanad
Four things, none of which is a Sanad.
- The name of the planning authority with jurisdiction over the parcel
- The land-use zone under the applicable development plan
- Any layout or building plan approval already granted, with date and reference number
- Written confirmation of the one-time premium position — paid, or payable and on what valuation
Do banks still ask for an NA certificate?
Banks have been directed not to insist on one as a condition of loan approval, removing a document that used to hold up lending — though individual lenders apply their own credit policies, so confirm with yours.
They have been directed not to insist on one as a condition of loan approval. That removes a document that used to hold up lending on otherwise sound parcels.
Individual lenders apply their own credit policies, so confirm with yours rather than assuming. But the regulatory reason for the demand has gone.
What can go wrong here?
Three avoidable misreadings: treating the Sanad as the whole diligence when zone, tenure or title may still fail, missing conditions the Sanad itself imposed, and assuming that no Sanad means no conversion — which it no longer does.
Three avoidable misreadings
Three things, all of them avoidable.
Treating the Sanad as the whole diligence. A plot with a perfectly good Sanad can sit in a zone that will not permit what you want to build, carry restricted tenure, or have defective title.
Missing conditions in the Sanad itself. Older conversions sometimes attached conditions — use restrictions, setbacks, time limits. Those conditions did not evaporate with the procedure.
Assuming no Sanad means no conversion. Under the current regime a parcel can be lawfully developed with no Sanad at all. Its absence is no longer a red flag by itself.
How do you verify the current position?
Go to the planning authority rather than the seller’s file: confirm the zone, what has been approved and when, and the premium, then pull a certified 7/12 with its mutation entries to check ownership and tenure separately.
Go to the planning authority rather than the file the seller hands you. Confirm the zone, confirm what has been approved and when, and confirm the premium. Then pull a certified 7/12 extract with the mutation entries behind it and check the ownership and tenure position separately.
Where the parcel forms part of a registered project, the promoter’s MahaRERA registration number should appear on every advertisement and price communication, and can be checked on the MahaRERA portal.
How we handle it
On our layouts the approval position is documented before plots are offered, and we would rather a buyer asked the planning authority directly than took our word for it. Current layouts are on our ongoing projects page.
The short version
The Sanad is a historical document now. If someone is still selling on the strength of one, they are describing a system that stopped operating on 31 December 2025.
Ask instead what the planning authority has approved. That is the document that decides whether you can build.
How the conversion works now, and where the old Sanad still fits
For land that was never converted, the change is straightforward: there is no separate application and no Sanad to wait for. When the planning authority sanctions the building plan or layout, that sanction carries the change of use with it, and the one-time premium falls due before the permission is granted rather than as an annual charge afterwards.
Where the old Sanad still has a role
For land already converted under the old regime, the existing Sanad does not lose its value — it changes role. It remains the record of when conversion happened, on what terms, and subject to which conditions, and those conditions continue to run with the land even though the procedure that produced them has gone. If the Sanad imposed a use restriction, a setback or a time limit, that obligation survives and should be read against what you now intend to build.
Keep the Sanad, then, but keep it for the right reason. It is a link in the title and record history, useful when an advocate reconstructs the chain and when the revenue record is reconciled through the mutation entries. It is not, on its own, confirmation that a plot is buildable today. For that, the operative evidence is the planning authority’s current approval and a clear premium position — the documents the new framework actually turns on.
Frequently asked questions
Is an NA Sanad still required in Maharashtra?
No. The requirement was removed by the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Second Amendment) Act, 2025, issued 31 December 2025.
Is my existing Sanad now worthless?
No. It remains evidence of past conversion and may record conditions that still bind the land. It is simply no longer the operative approval.
What document proves a plot is NA now?
Building plan or layout approval from the planning authority, which operates as deemed NA permission, together with confirmation that the one-time premium is discharged.
Do banks still require an NA certificate?
Banks have been directed not to insist on one for loan approval. Confirm your own lender’s policy.
If a plot has no Sanad, was it never converted?
Not necessarily. Under the framework in force since 31 December 2025 a parcel can be lawfully developed with no Sanad at all, because conversion now runs through building plan approval. The absence of a Sanad is no longer a red flag by itself; check what the planning authority has approved instead.
Related reading
The 2025 NA reform
- What NA land actually is – the core distinction.
- How the one-time NA premium is calculated – the cost of conversion.
- Deemed NA through building plan approval – how conversion now happens.
- NA plot vs agricultural land – the land-use line.
- NA conversion on the Khopoli-Pali road – the reform on one corridor.
- How to check a plot’s NA status – confirming conversion.
Records, tenure and title
- Class I vs Class II tenure – which land transfers freely.
- The Other Rights column on the 7/12 – where restrictions hide.
- How to read a 7/12 extract – the record of rights.
- The property card and the 8A – the holder’s account.
- Mutation entries and ferfar – the uncertified-entry gap.
- The title-check checklist – the documents to demand.
- How to verify title before buying – the six-document sequence.
RERA, access and registration
- What a RERA-approved plot proves – and what it does not.
- How to check a MahaRERA number yourself – reading the portal.
- Right of way and plot access – the recorded-access test.
- Getting building permission for a plot – the approval that now carries NA.
- How a land sale is registered – the step that transfers ownership.
Context and more
- The documents to check, in order – the full sequence.
- Khopoli-Pali road land: the SH-93 guide – a corridor worked through.
- Can an NRI buy land in India? – the cross-border rules.
- Land vs plotted development – raw land versus a sanctioned layout.
- What Lords of the Lands builds – who we are and how we work.
Citations and sources
Sources: Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Second Amendment) Act, 2025, issued 31 December 2025, substituting s.42 and deleting ss.42A–42D and 44–47A; MahaRERA. Current as at September 2026. General information, not legal advice. Verify the position for a specific parcel with your advocate and the relevant revenue and planning authorities. Official sources: UDCPR / Urban Development Dept · Maharashtra Government Resolutions.
