Land area unit converter
Cent, ground, guntha, ankanam, bigha, kanal, marla, katha, acre, hectare, square yard (gaj) and square feet — including the state-specific sizes that trip people up.
The same area in every unit
| Unit | Value | 1 unit in sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| sq ft | 435.6 | 1.00 |
| sq m | 40.4686 | 10.76 |
| sq yd (gaj) | 48.4 | 9.00 |
| cent | 1 | 435.60 |
| ground | 0.1815 | 2,400.00 |
| guntha | 0.4 | 1,089.00 |
| ankanam | 6.05 | 72.00 |
| acre | 0.01 | 43,560.00 |
| hectare | 0.004 | 107,639.00 |
| bigha | 0.016 | 27,225.00 |
| biswa | 0.3227 | 1,350.00 |
| kanal | 0.08 | 5,445.00 |
| marla | 1.6 | 272.25 |
| katha | 0.605 | 720.00 |
| dhur | 6.4002 | 68.06 |
| chatak | 9.68 | 45.00 |
| decimal | 1 | 435.60 |
| kuncham | 0.1 | 4,356.00 |
Why Indian land units are confusing
India never fully standardised land measurement. Revenue records still use the unit that was local when the survey was made, so a plot advertised in cents in Chennai, gunthas in Pune and bighas in Jaipur may be exactly the same size. Worse, a few units mean different things in different states, so "5 bigha" in Uttar Pradesh is roughly twice "5 bigha" in West Bengal.
The southern units
Cent (435.6 sq ft, 1/100 acre) is the everyday unit in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Andhra Pradesh — plots are quoted as "3 cents", "5.5 cents". Ground (2,400 sq ft) is the Chennai plot unit; a "one-ground plot" is a standard independent-house site. Ankanam (72 sq ft) is used in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and kuncham (4,356 sq ft) for farmland there. Guntha (1,089 sq ft, 1/40 acre) covers Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The northern units
Bigha is the big one to check: about 27,000 sq ft in Uttar Pradesh, 27,225 sq ft for a pucca bigha in Rajasthan, 14,400 sq ft in West Bengal and Assam, 8,712 sq ft in Himachal Pradesh and 6,804 sq ft in Uttarakhand. Biswa is a twentieth of a bigha in most of the north. Kanal (5,445 sq ft) and marla (272.25 sq ft) are standard in Punjab, Haryana and Jammu. Katha is 720 sq ft in West Bengal but 1,361.25 sq ft in Bihar, where dhur is a twentieth of a katha.
Units you will see on paperwork
Acre (43,560 sq ft) and hectare (107,639 sq ft) appear on agricultural records everywhere. Square yard, called gaj in the north, is 9 sq ft and is how plots are sold in Delhi, Haryana and Hyderabad. Building plans are almost always in square feet or square metres regardless of how the land was bought.
Before you rely on a number
Always cross-check the extent written in the revenue record — the patta or chitta in Tamil Nadu, RTC/Pahani in Karnataka, the 7/12 extract in Maharashtra, the pattadar passbook in Telangana — against what the seller quotes. Where a plot has been sub-divided, the FMB sketch or survey map is what a bank and a sub-registrar will go by. Get the plot physically measured by a licensed surveyor before you pay an advance.