Since 2007, turning farmland in a Rajasthan village into a house, a shop, a factory or a colony has run on one set of rules, amended many times: the Rajasthan Land Revenue (Conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes in rural areas) Rules, 2007. According to news reports from early October 2026, those rules are replaced on 2 November 2026. The reported changes are about process more than principle. Applications move online, the Sub-Divisional Officer becomes the officer who grants them, and the permission order is issued automatically once an application is complete.
संक्षेप में: समाचारों के अनुसार राजस्थान भू-राजस्व (ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में गैर-कृषि उद्देश्यों के लिए कृषि भूमि का उपयोग) नियम, 2026 दो नवंबर 2026 से लागू होंगे और 2007 के ग्रामीण रूपांतरण नियमों की जगह लेंगे। आवेदन ऑनलाइन पोर्टल पर होगा, उपखंड अधिकारी (SDO) अधिकृत अधिकारी होंगे, और आवेदन पूरा होने पर अनुमति का आदेश अपने-आप जारी होगा। प्रीमियम DLC दर से जुड़ा बताया गया है। हमने अधिसूचना का मूल पाठ नहीं पढ़ा है — भरोसा करने से पहले अधिसूचित नियम देखें या SDO कार्यालय से पुष्टि करें। पूरा लेख हिंदी में।
What the reports say
- The name. राजस्थान भू-राजस्व (ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में गैर-कृषि उद्देश्यों के लिए कृषि भूमि का उपयोग) नियम, 2026 — in English, roughly the Rajasthan Land Revenue (Use of Agricultural Land for Non-Agricultural Purposes in Rural Areas) Rules, 2026. The English title is our translation of the Hindi one as reported; the notified English title may differ.
- The date. In force from 2 November 2026, in place of the 2007 rural conversion rules.
- Who decides. The Sub-Divisional Officer (उपखंड अधिकारी) is made the authorised officer.
- How you apply. On an online portal. Once the application is complete, the permission order is issued automatically.
- What you pay. A flat application fee — one amount for residential use and a higher one for every other use — and a premium worked out as a percentage of the land’s DLC rate. The percentage depends on the use: residential, public and industrial uses at one rate; commercial, institutional and medical uses and residential projects at a higher one; lower rates for food-processing units and renewable energy projects. Hotels, resorts and other commercial units pay the commercial rate.
- Who pays no premium. Tourism units, stadiums, playgrounds and sports complexes, and some government and local-body projects are reported as fully exempt. The report also lists exemptions for renewable energy projects on land of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe farmers, for some green- and white-category industries and for IT parks, without saying whether those are full or partial.
- Colonies and industrial areas. In a new residential colony, 40 per cent of the land is reserved for roads and public facilities and at most 5 per cent may be used for commercial and institutional purposes. In an industrial area, 70 per cent is for industry and 30 per cent for infrastructure, open space and support facilities. As far as the reports go, both splits are the same as in the 2007 rules.
- Land that stays barred. Land under acquisition; protected and eco-sensitive zones; water sources and catchment areas; land covered by heritage laws; notified road and railway corridors; and land near defence, petroleum and other sensitive installations.
Why there are no amounts on this page. The reports give a rupee figure for each application fee and a percentage of the DLC rate for each kind of premium. We have left them out. They come from news reports of a notification we have not read, the one we read in full has an obvious misprint in its own summary of the rates, and AgriZameen does not publish conversion charges or DLC rates in any case. What you pay is what the notified rules and the SDO’s demand say. Ask for the demand in writing.
The 2007 rules and the 2026 rules, side by side
The left column is the 2007 rules as consolidated to December 2023, set out rule by rule in our explainer. The right column is only what the 2026 reports say; a blank in them is not a change.
| 2007 rules — until 1 November 2026 | 2026 rules — from 2 November 2026, as reported |
|---|---|
| Who decides | |
| The Tehsildar, Sub-Divisional Officer, Collector or State Government, by purpose and area (Rule 9). Since April 2026 renewable energy projects have a separate, time-bound route. | The Sub-Divisional Officer, as authorised officer. |
| How you apply | |
| An application to the prescribed authority, with a Tatkal option decided within fifteen working days for an extra fee (Rule 9A). | Online, on a portal. The order issues automatically once the application is complete. |
| What you pay | |
| Conversion charges under Rule 7, worked out with reference to the DLC rate. | A flat application fee and a premium set as a percentage of the DLC rate, varying with the use. |
| Uses that pay less or nothing | |
| Some uses need no conversion within limits — a dwelling, cattle shed or store up to 500 square metres (Rule 5), small industry and similar uses up to one acre (Rule 6), food processing up to ten hectares (Rule 6A). | A lower premium for food processing and renewable energy; no premium for tourism units, stadiums, sports grounds and complexes, and some government and local-body projects. Whether the 2007 allowances survive is not reported. |
| Residential colony | |
| 40% of the land for public facilities including roads; 60% for the colony, including 5% of the total for commercial and institutional use (Rule 9(2)). | 40% for roads and public facilities; at most 5% for commercial and institutional use. |
| Industrial area | |
| 70% for industry; 30% reserved for open area, public facilities and support activities. | 70% for industry; 30% for infrastructure, open space and support facilities. |
| Land that cannot be converted | |
| Rule 4: land under acquisition, road and railway land and buffers, catchments and pathways, and set distances from pipelines, depots and petroleum installations. | Land under acquisition, protected and eco-sensitive zones, water sources and catchment areas, land under heritage laws, notified road and rail corridors, and land near defence, petroleum and other sensitive installations. |
What the reports do not say yet
- The notification’s number and date, and when it appears in the Rajasthan Gazette.
- What happens to applications under the 2007 rules that are still pending on 2 November.
- Whether the 2007 allowances survive — the dwelling up to 500 square metres, small industry up to one acre, food processing, the renewable energy route — and whether a Tatkal route remains.
- The portal’s address. Do not apply through a link someone sends you; wait until the Revenue Department or the SDO’s office names the portal.
- Whether the SDO decides every application, whatever its area and purpose, or only some.
- What conditions an automatic order carries. Under the 2007 rules they included using the land within five years and planting three trees for every one removed.
- The distances that define “near” for defence, petroleum and other installations, and whether the catchment bar still applies where the record does not show a catchment, as it does under Rule 4(d) of the 2007 rules.
If you are in the middle of something
- You applied under the 2007 rules and are still waiting. Ask the office handling your file, in writing, which rules will decide it and whether anything more will be asked of you after 2 November. Keep the receipt and every challan.
- You are about to apply. Applying before 2 November means the 2007 rules, whose text is known. Waiting means the new online route, whose text is not yet public. Which is better depends on the use, the area and the charges, and it is a question for an advocate once the notified rules can be read. We cannot answer it for you.
- You are buying land described as converted. What you check does not change. Ask for the conversion order itself, read its purpose, area and conditions, and confirm that the jamabandi shows the land as non-agricultural. An order made under the 2007 rules is read against those rules; one made from 2 November against the new ones.
- You are buying rural land to convert later. First check whether the parcel falls in a barred category — acquisition, an eco-sensitive zone, a water source or catchment, a road or rail corridor. Around Sambhar Lake, read the Sambhar, oran, Aravalli and bustard rulings first. Price the land on the use it has today, not the one you hope to get.
- You are leasing land for solar. The April 2026 amendment gave renewable projects a defined route under the 2007 rules, and the new rules are reported to keep a concessional premium for renewable energy. See solar and BESS land and solar leases on farmland, and make the lease say who obtains any permission.
What an automatic order does not do
An order that issues automatically is only as good as the application behind it. It does not check who owns the land, and it does not make a barred parcel convertible. In July 2026 the Rajasthan High Court held a Section 90-A conversion and patta on master-plan green-belt land void, whatever the buyer had paid — see the ruling in our updates register. That was an urban case under different rules, but it shows what can happen to a permission granted where the rules allow none. When permission issues automatically, the checks a buyer makes before paying matter more, not less.
The April 2026 amendment, until 2 November
The 2007 rules were last amended by a notification of 29 April 2026 (G.S.R. 11), reported by legal-update services in May 2026. As they describe it, the amendment gave renewable energy projects — solar, wind, biomass, hydro, pumped storage, battery storage and pooling substations — a definition of their own, concessional conversion charges and time-bound disposal of applications by revenue officers. It also restricted petrol pumps near schools, hospitals, residential areas, water bodies and high-tension lines, barred conversion where the Forest Department or other authorities restrict it, and reduced the area limit in the definition of a residential unit. It applies until the new rules take over. We have not read its gazette text either.
Questions
When do Rajasthan’s new rural land conversion rules take effect?
From 2 November 2026, according to news reports of the notification. Until then the 2007 rural conversion rules, as amended in April 2026, continue to apply. We have not read the notified text.
Who approves conversion of agricultural land in rural Rajasthan under the 2026 rules?
The reports say the Sub-Divisional Officer is the authorised officer, applications are made on an online portal, and the permission order is issued automatically once an application is complete.
Do the 2026 rules cover land inside a town or a development authority area?
They are rules for rural areas. Land inside an urban body’s limits or its peripheral belt is converted under Section 90-A and the urban rules, and the reports describe no change there.
How much will conversion cost under the 2026 rules?
The reports describe a flat application fee, lower for residential use than for other uses, and a premium worked out as a percentage of the land’s DLC rate that varies with the use, with full exemption for some uses. We do not publish the amounts. Take them from the notified rules or from the demand the SDO’s office issues.
What happens to an application already filed under the 2007 rules?
The reports do not say. Ask the office handling the file, in writing, which rules will decide it, and keep every receipt and challan.
Sources
- Gaon Junction (Devesh Saraswat), 4 October 2026, in Hindi — the report we read in full, and the source of every detail on this page about the 2026 rules.
- The Times of India, Jaipur — on the notification of the rural conversion rules and the move to online approval.
- Dainik Bhaskar, Udaipur — on the rules taking effect from 2 November and the SDO’s powers over conversion.
- TeamLease RegTech, 7 May 2026, and EQ Mag Pro, 4 May 2026 — the April 2026 amendment (G.S.R. 11, 29 April 2026).
- Our explainer of the 2007 rules, written from the consolidated text to December 2023 — the left column of the table.