Buying Land in Sabarkantha

Who can buy agricultural land? Section 63 of the Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 is headed “Transfers to non-agriculturist barred”, and section 2(2) defines an agriculturist as a person who cultivates land personally. A commentary on the Supreme Court appeal Vinodchandra Sakarlal Kapadia v State of Gujarat (Civil Appeal 2573 of 2020) reports that the Gujarat High Court read section 63 to bar a transfer by an agriculturist to a non-agriculturist without the Collector’s permission, including by will (Mondaq, April 2021). Farmer status is checked from revenue records back to a cut-off of 6 April 1995, under Revenue Department circulars of 13 September 2024, and a self-declaration form goes with a sale entry or an NA application (SCC Online, September 2024). We read section 63 through these summaries, not its full text; confirm with a Gujarat revenue lawyer.

Will non-farmers be allowed to buy? A committee chaired by C. L. Meena studied the tenancy laws and its suggestions on non-farmer purchase were being assessed in November 2024, with no decision announced (Gujarat Samachar, November 2024; Gujarat Samachar, November 2024). We found no enacted change by October 2026, so the section 63 rule above is the one to plan on.

Ceiling limits: the Gujarat Agricultural Lands Ceiling Act, 1960 (Gujarat Act 27 of 1961, amendments compiled by PRS Legislative Research) bars a person from holding land above the ceiling area. Land of a spouse and minor children is grouped with the holder, a family of more than five may hold one-fifth of the ceiling area for each extra member up to twice the ceiling, and each major son counts as a separate person; in desert, hill and drought-prone areas the dry-crop ceiling is raised by 12.5% but cannot pass 21.85 hectares (54 acres). These points come from a legal-database copy of the Act that we do not link, because the India Code page did not open here; the class-wise acreage in Schedule I was not in the text we read, so we show no per-class figure.

Tenure, premium and NA permission: section 43 of the Tenancy Act is headed “Restriction on transfers of land purchased or sold under this Act”, which is the basis of what the press calls new tenure land, and the Collector’s office grants permission and collects a premium under it (Surat Collectorate). A government notification of 8 February 2024 lets a tenant who has farmed land for more than 15 years move it from new tenure to old tenure without a conversion fee, but the premium for NA use is still payable (LiveLaw, April 2025). NA (non-agricultural) permission is granted under section 65 of the Gujarat Land Revenue Code, 1879, and is deemed granted if the Collector does not decide within three months (same source); applications have been online since a December 2018 circular (SCC Online, September 2024). Press reports put the NA premium at about 35 to 40 per cent of land value (Gujarat Samachar, March 2024); we found no official schedule. The 2008 resolution on NA procedure also lists distance limits from railways, airports and Air Force installations (900 m) and from the sea high-tide line (500 m) (Revenue Department resolution, July 2008), which later circulars may have changed.

Fragmentation (tukda) limit: the Assembly passed the Gujarat Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings (Amendment) Bill on 11 September 2026. As reported, it sets a uniform standard area of 10 gunthas (1,012 sq m) for rural land under a new section 5(4), leaves out municipal and urban development authority areas, and regularises violations from 1948 to 31 March 2026 without penalty; before this, buyers paid 10% of jantri value (DeshGujarat, September 2026). We did not see the Act text or any filing deadline.

Industrial and institutional exceptions: sections 63AA and 63AAA allow land bought for industrial, education or health use to be resold on payment of a share of jantri value that falls with the holding period, from 100% at three to five years to 25% beyond ten years (Gujarat Bill 23 of 2020, PRS Legislative Research). We have the Bill, not the enacted Act. A charity that bought in breach before 30 June 2015 may apply for conversion within a period the State notifies (Gujarat Bill 1 of 2024, PRS Legislative Research).

Disturbed Areas Act, 1991: where the State has notified an area under section 3, a transfer of land or buildings there needs the Collector’s prior sanction after an inquiry into free consent and fair value, and a transfer without it is void under section 5; contravention carries imprisonment of three to five years under section 6D (Gujarat Act 12 of 1991, PRS Legislative Research). A 2026 amendment renames these “specified areas”, adds a Monitoring and Advisory Committee and extends the Collector’s checks (Bill 18 of 2026; DeshGujarat, March 2026); the government notified the amendment in July 2026, with the effective date to be notified separately (DeshGujarat, July 2026). As a due-diligence step, ask the Collector or Sub-Registrar whether the survey number lies in a notified area; we hold no list of notified areas.

Land Grabbing Act, 2020 and tribal land: the Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2020 works through district committees, and in December 2024 a Gujarat High Court bench issued guidelines for those committees (LiveLaw, December 2024). Land held by Scheduled Tribe occupants is separately restricted under section 73AA of the Land Revenue Code, which the 2020 Bill cross-refers to (PRS Legislative Research); we did not open the Code, so check the occupant’s status in the 7/12.

NRI & OCI buyers: regulation 3 of the Foreign Exchange Management (Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property in India) Regulations, 2018 lets NRIs and OCIs buy land other than agricultural land, a farm house or plantation property (Reserve Bank of India, 2018 regulations). Residential and commercial land is open to them. The same section 63 rule applies to a resident non-farmer.

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Status labels reflect sources read in October 2026. Government-announced timelines are not guaranteed; items marked confirm have a single or an older source. None of the items below is confirmed complete.