The Comprehensive Land & Plot Buying Due Diligence Guide

In Indian real estate, land is broadly categorized into Agricultural (Khatedari), Non-Agricultural (NA), Commercial, and Institutional parcels. Acquiring agricultural land for residential self-construction without statutory conversion is illegal and creates high eviction risk.

Under state revenue laws (such as Section 90A of the Rajasthan Land Revenue Act), agricultural land must be formally surrendered to the planning authority (e.g., Jaipur Development Authority) and regularized with a formal land use conversion order before plots can be demarcated and registered.

A legitimate plotted development requires a Scheme Approval Order and an Approved Layout Plan from the competent municipal or regional development authority.

Check the official authority portal to confirm that the scheme name, Khasra numbers, and total developer land acreage precisely match the sanctioned masterplan map.

Title due diligence requires establishing an unbroken chain of ownership spanning at least 30 years. This confirms that all prior transfers, inheritances, and partitions were lawfully executed without pending dispute.

An independent property advocate should examine the Sub-Registrar records to issue a formal Non-Encumbrance Certificate (NEC), ensuring the property is not pledged against bank mortgages or court injunctions.

Paper approvals must be validated on the ground. During your physical site inspection, verify that the plot boundaries match the exact Total Station coordinate survey.

Ensure that basic infrastructure—such as paved sector roads, underground electrical cabling conduits, water drainage pipelines, and boundary walls—is actively under construction or operational.