Land Conversion in Telangana

Agricultural land cannot be utilized for residential, commercial or industrial purpose except on conversion of the same into non-agricultural land. The process of converting agricultural land into non-agricultural land is called as land conversion. As per the provision of Telangana Non-Agricultural Lands Assessment Act (NALA), agricultural land can be converted for non-agriculture purposes only by taking prior permission from the competent authorities. In this article, we look at the procedure for land conversion in Telangana.

Non-Agricultural Lands Assessment Act – NALA

Non-Agricultural Lands Assessment Act has introduced in the year 1963. NALA regulate the process of converting agricultural land to non-agriculture land in Telangana. As per NALA, rising of any crop or garden produce, orchards or pasture is agricultural land. Industrial purpose means the process of manufacturing any article with the aid of power that is any form of energy not generated by human or animal agency and any trade, commerce or business is a commercial purpose.

Non-applicability of NALA

The Non-Agricultural Lands Assessment Act does not apply to below-mentioned types of land:

NALA is not applicable for lands in estates which are not under Government
If a land owned by Central or State Government but does not include lands leased out for a non-agricultural purpose, NALA is not significant
Land vested in local authority and used for the non-agricultural purpose cannot be converted as per NALA
If a land owned by a local authority and used for any commercial purpose but so long as no income is derived from this land, NALA is not applicable
NALA is not applicable for the land of any charitable or religious, educational institution
NALA tax excludes the lands that are exclusively for the residential purpose where its extent does not exceed one hundred square metres

Documents Required

Following documents need to be furnished for land conversion in Telangana:

Application form for Land Conversion
Basic Value certificate from Sub-Registrar
Ration Card
Pattadar Passbooks
Land title deed
EPIC Card
Aadhaar Card

NALA Tax

The land used for non-agricultural purposes is liable for payment of NALA tax. Landowners need to pay NALA tax for converting agricultural land into non–agriculture land. The schedule of tax rate depends upon the following two factors:

Nature of utility, Industrial, Commercial and Residential
The population of the locality

NALA Tax concerning locality population is below here:

Local Area Population	Rate of Assessment per Square meter (Sq.m)
Local Area Population	Industrial Purposes	Commercial Purposes	Residential purposes
Less than 10,000	50 paisa	Nil	Nil
10,000 to 50,000	50 paisa	50 paisa	5 paisa
50,000 to 2 Lakhs	75 paisa	75 paisa	15 paisa
2 lakhs and more	100 paisa	100 paisa	20 paisa

Cesses at 0.37 paisa are taxable on Non-Agricultural Land Assessment as in the case of land revenue. According to non-agricultural land Assessment Act, if an assessment is levied and collected, then no land revenue will be payable in respect of that land. If assessment leviable on any non-agricultural land is less than the land revenue, only land revenue need to be paid.

Telangana Land Conversion Procedure

To convert agriculture land into non-agriculture land in Telangana, follow the below-mentioned procedure:

Step 1: Application for Land conversion

The landowner needs to submit a land conversion application through MeeSeva centres. Fill all details as mentioned below in the conversion form:

The village, District or Mandal
Name of the owner
Aadhaar number
Survey number
Amount

[pdf-embedder url="https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Form-of-Application-for-Land-Conversion.pdf" title="Form of Application for Land Conversion"] Submit the filled application form and all other required documents to MeeSeva centre. The user charge in the MeeSeva centre is Rs.35. MeeSeva operator will forward conversion application form online to the Tahsildar and to the competent authority for making changes in the revenue record that the agriculture land is converted as non-agricultural land.

Step 2: Notice of demand

After approval of application, competent authority (Revenue inspector) will issue a notice of demand. MeeSeva operator will provide the Receipt of Intimation of payment for land conversion.

Step 3: Pay assessment

The assessment is payable within 30 days from the date of service of demand notice. The landowner can pay one-time conversion tax to Government by challan. After paying the tax, obtain a copy of challan. After Tax payment, the Revenue officer will issue a certificate within 30 days.

Step 4: Land conversion

After the landowner receiving the certificate, he or she will have to convert agricultural land to non-agriculture purposes such as industrial, commercial and residential purposes.

Step 5: Inspection by Competent Authority

The Revenue inspector will inspect and measure the converted agriculture land. In the case of deceitful land conversion, the officer will issue a notice to the landowner.

Step 6: Visit by District collector

The District Collector will review the records for every three months, whether the converted land is used for the intended purpose.

Penalty for Deemed Conversion

If any agricultural land in the Telangana has been put to non-agricultural purpose without obtaining the permission from the Revenue Officer, the land will be deemed to have been converted into non-agricultural purpose. Upon such deemed conversion, the Revenue officer will impose a fine of 50% over and above the conversion fee of that land. The landowner needs to pay the penalty. Any penalty remains unpaid after the date specified for penalty payment; the land will be recoverable as per the provisions of the Revenue Recovery Act.