Dharani and NALA Conversion Basics for Telangana Plot Buyers

If you are weighing a plot purchase anywhere in Telangana, the first question that matters is not the layout or the location — it is whether the land beneath the plot is still recorded as agricultural. Telangana runs two separate record-and-registration tracks, one for farmland and one for everything else, and a plot is only as sound as its documented passage from the first track to the second.

What Dharani records — and what it has become

Dharani was launched in late 2020 as Telangana's integrated land records and registration portal for agricultural land, under the Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 2020. Its defining feature was integration: for agricultural land, the Tahsildar acts as joint sub-registrar, so registration of a sale and mutation of the record of rights happen together rather than as separate applications. The record itself carries the survey number, the extent of the holding, the pattadar's (recorded owner's) name and the land's classification, and the system issues pattadar passbooks as the owner's document of record.

In 2025 the state replaced the 2020 Act with the Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act, 2025 (Act 1 of 2025), and relaunched the system as the Bhu Bharati portal — launched on 14 April 2025 as a pilot and rolled out statewide from 2 June 2025. The core function is unchanged — it remains the record of rights for agricultural land — but the new law added grievance and appeal mechanisms that the earlier system lacked, and it also provides for a separate record of rights for abadi and non-agricultural lands from a date to be notified. In practice you will still hear both names used; what matters is that you check the survey number on whichever portal the state currently operates.

Two registration tracks, two departments

Agricultural land transactions are registered through the Bhu Bharati (formerly Dharani) system at the Tahsildar's office. Non-agricultural property — house plots, flats, commercial premises — is registered at Sub-Registrar offices under the Registration Act, 1908, administered by the Registration and Stamps Department, whose portal also serves encumbrance certificates and the prohibited-property search.

This split is why land status matters so much to a plot buyer. A "plot" carved out of land that is still classified as agricultural sits on the wrong track: the revenue record does not recognise it as a plot at all, and the documentation trail you would expect for urban property does not exist for it.

Why agricultural land needs conversion before plotting

Conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural use is governed by the Telangana Agricultural Land (Conversion for Non-Agricultural Purposes) Act, 2006 — commonly called the NALA Act. The owner applies to the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), the competent authority under the Act, and a conversion tax — commonly called a conversion fee — is payable under the statute. Appeals against conversion orders lie with the District Collector. Once conversion is granted, the land's classification changes in the revenue record, and subsequent transactions in it move to the Sub-Registrar track.

Conversion is a precondition, not the finish line. A residential layout additionally needs planning permission from the authority with jurisdiction — HMDA within its development area, the Directorate of Town and Country Planning or the local body elsewhere — and the land use must conform to the sanctioned master plan for the area.

What NALA conversion does not do

It is worth being precise about the limits. NALA conversion changes the land's revenue classification — nothing more. It does not certify that the seller's title is good, it does not approve any layout drawn on the land, and it does not override the master plan: land zoned for conservation or other restricted uses does not become buildable merely because it has been converted. Each of those questions has its own authority and its own document, and a careful buyer checks all of them independently.

What to check before you pay

• Land status on the official record. Search the survey number on the state's land records portal (Bhu Bharati, formerly Dharani) and confirm the classification, extent and pattadar name match what the seller claims.
• Conversion proceedings. Ask for the NALA conversion order and confirm the survey numbers and extent in it cover the specific land your plot sits on — not merely an adjacent parcel.
• Layout permission. Confirm a final layout permission from HMDA, DTCP or the local authority — not a provisional or draft approval — and that your plot number appears in the approved plan.
• Encumbrance certificate. Pull an EC from the Registration and Stamps portal for as long a period as available, and look for undisclosed mortgages, prior sales or attachments.
• Prohibited-property search. Check whether the survey number appears in the prohibited list maintained under Section 22-A of the Registration Act; Sub-Registrars refuse registration of listed lands, which typically include government, assigned and endowment lands.
• Assigned-land risk. Land originally assigned to landless poor is generally non-transferable under the Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977 — a sale of such land can be void regardless of what the paperwork looks like.
• RERA registration. If the promoter quotes a Telangana RERA registration number for the layout, verify it directly on the Telangana RERA portal rather than relying on the brochure.
• Seller identity. Match the seller's identity documents against the pattadar record and the title chain, not just against the sale agreement.

Portal names and procedures in Telangana have changed more than once in recent years and may change again. Verify every entry yourself on the current official portals, and consult a qualified property lawyer before you transact.