Land conversion in West Bengal — classification, application and status

What conversion actually changes

Every plot in the West Bengal land records carries a recorded classification — the category the record says the land belongs to. *Sali* (agricultural) and *bastu* (homestead) are the two most people encounter, and the most common conversion request is from agricultural to residential, but the record uses a wider set of categories than that.

Conversion is the process of asking the department to change that recorded classification. It does not move a boundary, change who holds the land, or alter its area. It changes what the record says the land *is*.

That sounds small and is not. The classification on the record is one of the things that governs what may lawfully be done with the plot, and it is one of the first things a buyer, a bank or a planning authority looks at. A plot being used one way while the record says another is a problem that surfaces at the worst possible moment — at sale, at loan sanction, or at the point of seeking a building permission.

Why the classification matters — and what this page will not tell you

It would be convenient if there were a table saying *this classification permits that use*. There is not, and any page that gives you one is oversimplifying something that genuinely varies.

What may be done on a given plot depends on its recorded classification, but also on where it sits, on which local planning or municipal authority covers it, on the rules in force, and sometimes on conditions attached to the land itself. Two plots with the same classification in different places are not necessarily subject to the same permissions.

So the honest guidance is narrow: find out how your plot is classified today, and take that plus your specific plan to the office and to an advocate who does land title work. What you *want* to do with the land determines whether you need conversion at all, and that determination is not one to make from a website.

Where conversion sits on Banglarbhumi

The portal splits conversion across two menus, and the labels are close enough that people land on the wrong one.

Conversion Application, the screen where you actually file, sits under Online Application — the portal's filing menu, alongside mutation and Warish. It is login-gated, so signed out you get the account gate rather than the form.

Conversion Case Status is the screen keyed on a case or application number, which is what you use to follow a case — including one someone else filed for you, provided they gave you the number. Expect the portal to ask you to sign in before it returns anything. Banglarbhumi's menus open and its District and Block dropdowns populate while you are signed out, which makes the site feel more open than it is, but asking it for an actual record or case takes you to the sign-in page.

There is also a Conversion Status screen under Online Service Status, which requires login and lists the applications submitted through your own account. It will not retrieve a case filed under someone else's account, which is what the case-number screen is for.

• Conversion Application — under Online Application, login required, this is where you file
• Conversion Case Status — looks a case up by its number; expect to be signed in
• Conversion Status — under Online Service Status, login required, lists your own submissions
• Land Classification — a portal service showing how land is recorded (login required)
• Online Fees Calculator — where the portal shows the current fee

Conversion is a decision, not a formality

This is the expectation that most needs correcting. Conversion is not a fee you pay to receive an outcome. It is an application on which the department takes a decision, and applications are refused.

Rather than reciting a stage list — the wording differs between offices and is not worth guessing at — hold on to the shape. The application is received and recorded, which is when the case number starts returning results. It is then examined, which may involve inspection of the plot and, where the law requires it, notice to interested parties so objections can be raised and heard. Finally it is decided, and if allowed, the record is corrected and the changed classification published. The same shape applies to mutation cases.

Two practical consequences. A case sitting in the middle phase may be waiting on a notice period, an inspection, or another person — not on an officer's attention. And a case can show as decided before the classification visibly changes in a record search, because publishing the corrected record is a separate step from ordering the change.

What is commonly asked for

Treat what follows as the usual shape of a conversion file, not as an authoritative checklist. Requirements vary with the district, the category of land, the plot's location and its history, and your own office is the only reliable source for your case.

Underneath the variation, the file is doing three jobs: identifying the plot precisely, showing that you are the recorded holder of it, and explaining what you intend.

• The current Khatian / parcha or ROR for the plot, showing you as the recorded holder
• Mouza name and JL number, and the Dag number(s) to be converted — sabek and hal where both exist
• The registered deed, and evidence that mutation has been completed in your name
• A plot map or sketch identifying the portion concerned, if only part of a plot is involved
• Khajna (land revenue) receipts showing dues are up to date
• An identity document, and a statement of the intended use

Fees, and why no figure appears here

Conversion fees vary with the category of land, its area and where it sits, which is why no single figure exists to quote. The Online Fees Calculator prices your specific case. Budget for it before you commit to anything downstream — conversion is a decision the department makes, not a formality you are paying to complete.

Conversion fees in particular vary with the categories involved, the area, and where the land is, so a single quoted figure would be wrong for almost everyone reading it. If a middleman quotes you a flat rate, ask them to show you the calculator output.

Pay through the portal's Fees Payment option or via eChallan Generation, and keep the challan or GRN reference — you can look a challan up again through GRN Search, and the office frequently asks for that reference when you follow up.

Tracking the case, and checking the record afterwards

Keep the acknowledgement. The case or application number on it is the key the status screen is built around — not your name and not your Khatian.

Check progress through the Conversion Case Status screen, signing in when the portal asks, then selecting the district and block and entering the number exactly as written, including any prefix and leading zeros. A mis-typed number returns nothing, and people routinely read that blank result as a stalled case.

Once the case shows as decided, verify the record itself. Look the plot up through Know Your Property or RS-LR Plot Information and confirm the classification now reads as ordered. If the case is decided but the record has not caught up after a reasonable interval, that is a records question for the BL&LRO — not a reason to file again.

If you find yourself doing this every week for months, an app is less tedious than the portal's dropdowns and per-search CAPTCHA. Bhumir Tathya is our own app, built by us at Devikon: free, unofficial, Android-only, bilingual in Bengali and English, and it keeps records you have already viewed readable offline. It does not bypass government authentication or fees and cannot — it signs in with your own banglarbhumi.gov.in account, and filing a Conversion Application still happens on the portal under that same login. Anything saved in it shows the record as it stood when you viewed it, so re-check before relying on it.