Farmland in Kasauli, Solan

Who can buy without permission? Only an agriculturist, which the Act defines as a person who cultivates land personally in the state (section 2(2), PRS copy of the Act). Out-of-state buyers do not qualify. Nor, according to The Tribune, October 2025, do Himachalis who hold no agricultural land; they need Revenue Department relaxation too.

Section 118 permission: the Act makes a transfer to a non-agriculturist invalid without it, and the section covers sale, gift, exchange, lease and mortgage with possession (Indian Kanoon). In Ajay Dabra v. Pyare Ram (31 January 2023) the Supreme Court held that land cannot pass to a non-agriculturist without prior State permission (LiveLaw, February 2023). The application goes to the Collector on Form LRXIV, with caps of 4 acres for farming, 500 sq m for a house and 300 sq m for a shop (Rule 38A, Rules of 1975). The rules allow the Collector 10 days and the State 10 days; The Tribune (October 2025) describes the process as lengthy, with several NOCs and some cases going to Cabinet, and gives no timeline.

The 12% duty: the Indian Stamp (Himachal Pradesh Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, dated 18 February 2025, sets duty at 12% of the higher of market value or consideration where the State grants permission under section 118(2)(h), regardless of gender (Legitquest copy). UNI reported in March 2025 that the rate had doubled from 6% as a bill was tabled (UNI, March 2025). Budgets drawn up before 2025 on a 6% basis are out of date.

A pending amendment: Bill 25 of 2025 would change Section 118, including a 3 plus 2 year use period and flats in RERA-registered projects up to 500 sq m (PRS bill text). The Assembly sent it to a select committee on 5 December 2025 (The Tribune, December 2025). We found no report that it has passed; until it does, the 1972 text applies.

NRI & OCI buyers: the RBI Master Direction under FEMA 1999 bars NRIs and OCIs from buying agricultural land, plantation land or a farm house (RBI Master Direction FED 12/2015-16). A Section 118 permission is a state matter and does not lift that bar.