Agricultural Land Conversion (NA) Order Delayed

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

Do these four things this week, in this order:

1. Pull the exact status. Check your NA application number on your state's revenue or land services portal, or at the conversion clerk's desk in the collectorate or SDM office. Ask one question: what is pending, and on whose table.
2. Clear anything pending from your side. An unpaid conversion premium, an unanswered query memo or a missing zoning report stalls more files than official lethargy does. Pay or reply against a receipt.
3. Send a one-page written representation to the officer who signs the order, the Collector, SDM or Tehsildar depending on your state, quoting the application number, the date of application and the timeline notified under your state's public service guarantee law.
4. File an RTI for the file movement if the representation gets silence for two to three weeks. The collectorate is a public authority, and the file noting tells you the real reason.

Land is a state subject. Conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural use happens under the state land revenue code, and the sanctioning authority varies: the Collector or an officer to whom the power is delegated, often the SDM or SDO, sometimes the Tehsildar for small parcels. Before the revenue order, the file usually collects a town planning or zoning report confirming your plot falls in a zone where the intended use is allowed. Files most often stall in the gap between these two desks. Your representation and your RTI should both ask which desk currently holds the file.

Most states have notified NA permission or land conversion as a service under their public service guarantee law, with a fixed clock. Maharashtra lists conversion services under its Right to Public Services Act, 2015. Karnataka covers conversion under Sakala. Madhya Pradesh and Bihar have equivalent laws. Find the notified number of days for your state on its service guarantee portal and quote it. Once the clock is crossed, you can also file a formal appeal under that law to the designated appellate officer, which carries the possibility of a penalty on the defaulting officer. This is separate from, and faster than, anything under RTI.

You may not need a full NA order at all. Maharashtra's amendments to the Land Revenue Code treat land already included in a residential zone of a final development plan as eligible for deemed or fast-track NA on payment of the conversion charge. Karnataka moved to an affidavit-based online conversion route for eligible cases in 2021, cutting the old file journey sharply. If your plot sits inside a sanctioned development plan zone matching your intended use, ask the collectorate in writing whether the deemed or fast-track route applies before you keep chasing the slow file.

Prakash applied in August 2025 to convert 0.40 hectare in Nashik district to residential use. He paid a conversion premium of Rs 1,87,000 by challan in September. By February 2026, nothing. The portal showed only “under process”. His representation to the Collector on 9 February quoted the notified service timeline and the challan number. On 2 March he filed an RTI asking for the date-wise file movement, the zoning report and the officer currently holding the file. The reply showed the town planning report had been received in November and the file had sat with a clerk for scrutiny since. The order issued three weeks after the RTI reply, before his first appeal fell due.

To the PIO, Office of the Collector, [district]

Regarding NA conversion application no. [.....] dated [.....] for survey no. [.....],
village [.....], please provide:

1. The current stage of the application and the name and designation of the
   officer holding the file as on the date of this application.
2. A copy of the file noting sheet and the date-wise file movement register
   entries for this application.
3. Copies of all reports received on the file, including the town planning or
   zoning report.
4. The date of receipt of the conversion premium of Rs [.....] paid by challan
   no. [.....].
5. A copy of the notified timeline for NA conversion under the [state] public
   service guarantee law, and the reasons recorded for exceeding it.

File it on your state RTI portal or by post with the state fee. The state RTI portal directory lists the right portal, and this guide covers the format. If the PIO stalls, use the first appeal.

Sometimes the file is not slow, it is blocked: the plot falls in a green belt, a buffer zone or a no-development zone, or an objection sits unanswered. The RTI reply will show this. If a rejection order exists, demand a copy with reasons. State revenue codes give an appeal or revision to a higher revenue authority within a fixed window, commonly 30 to 90 days, so get the order date in writing and act inside it. The documents you pulled by RTI become the evidence in that appeal.

Collect the sanad or conversion order, pay any balance assessment, and make sure the record of rights, the 7/12, khatauni or jamabandi for your survey number, is updated to the new use. If your ownership entry itself is pending, that is a different process, covered in inheritance mutation delayed.

States that have notified it as a guaranteed service mostly fix between 30 and 90 days for a clean file. Treat anything beyond the notified period as a delay you can formally appeal.

No. RTI gets you the file status, the reports and the reasons. The pressure of a documented file trail is what moves the decision. Approval still depends on zoning and the revenue code.

Usually yes, since the premium is for a permission not granted, but the refund needs its own application. Ask for the refund procedure in writing along with the rejection order.

In several states you get a deemed or fast-track route on payment of charges. Ask your collectorate in writing whether your plot qualifies. Do not assume; the answer depends on the plan and the state amendment.

Do not pay. Put your representation on record, file the RTI for file movement, and use the state service guarantee appeal. A demand for a bribe can be reported to the state anti-corruption bureau.

No. Building on agricultural land before conversion invites penalty and regularisation costs under the revenue code, and can complicate the pending application itself.

• Agricultural land inheritance mutation delayed
• Agricultural land shown as government land
• State RTI portal directory
• All practical guides

Download the NA conversion follow-up checklist (PDF).