How Many Bigha in 1 Acre in India, Acre to Bigha Calculator, Converted Chart
Addressofchoice 25 July 2019
Last updated: August 8, 2026
If you own land in India, sooner or later someone quotes you a price "per bigha" — and the number stops making sense. A bigha in Guwahati is not a bigha in Jaipur, and neither is a bigha in Varanasi. The word travels; the area does not.
This guide answers the question directly and then shows you how to get the right number for your own land. There is no single India-wide acre-to-bigha conversion, because the bigha is a traditional regional unit, not a standardised one. An acre is fixed forever at 43,560 square feet. A bigha is whatever the local revenue custom says it is — anywhere from about 6,800 to 27,225 square feet.
In Assam, where this conversion is asked most often, 1 acre = 3.025 bigha, because one Assam bigha is 14,400 square feet.
Below you will find the state-wise figures with the arithmetic shown, an acre-to-bigha calculator method you can run on a phone, ready-made conversion charts, a plain explanation of the Bigha–Katha–Lecha system used in Assam land records, and guidance on reading your Jamabandi on the Dharitree portal. One rule runs through all of it: for an actual property transaction, the area written in your official land record beats any online conversion, including this one.
Quick Answer: How Many Bigha Are in 1 Acre?
There is no single answer for all of India. One acre is always 43,560 sq ft, but the number of bigha it contains depends on how big a bigha is where your land sits. In Assam, 1 acre = 3.025 bigha (3 bigha, 0 katha, 2.5 lecha). Across India the figure ranges from 1.6 to 6.4 bigha per acre. Always confirm the local standard against your own land record before using any figure in a transaction.
| Where the land is | Size of 1 bigha | 1 acre = |
|---|---|---|
| Assam | 14,400 sq ft | 3.025 bigha |
| West Bengal | 14,400 sq ft | 3.025 bigha |
| Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern UP (pucca) | 27,225 sq ft | 1.6 bigha |
| Rajasthan (pucca) | 27,225 sq ft | 1.6 bigha |
| Rajasthan (kachcha), Gujarat | 17,424 sq ft | 2.5 bigha |
| Punjab & Haryana (commonly quoted) | 9,075 sq ft | 4.8 bigha |
| Himachal Pradesh | 8,712 sq ft | 5 bigha |
| Uttarakhand, western UP (small bigha) | 6,806.25 sq ft | 6.4 bigha |
| Madhya Pradesh (local convention) | ~12,000 sq ft | ~3.63 bigha |
Every figure in that table is derived from 43,560 ÷ (size of one bigha in sq ft). Nothing is estimated. The following sections show where each bigha size comes from, and — just as important — where the sources genuinely disagree.
Acre to Bigha Calculator: The Formula and Worked Examples
You do not need an app. You need one number: how many square feet a bigha is where your land is. Once you have that, both directions are a single division.
The two formulas
Acre → Bigha
Bigha = (Acres × 43,560) ÷ (sq ft in one local bigha)
Bigha → Acre
Acres = (Bigha × sq ft in one local bigha) ÷ 43,560
Worked examples (Assam, 1 bigha = 14,400 sq ft)
| You have | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 acre | 43,560 ÷ 14,400 | 3.025 bigha |
| 2 acres | 87,120 ÷ 14,400 | 6.05 bigha |
| 5 acres | 217,800 ÷ 14,400 | 15.125 bigha |
| 10 acres | 435,600 ÷ 14,400 | 30.25 bigha |
| 1 bigha | 14,400 ÷ 43,560 | 0.3306 acre |
| 5 bigha | 72,000 ÷ 43,560 | 1.6529 acre |
| 10 bigha | 144,000 ÷ 43,560 | 3.3058 acre |
The same calculation in three other states
One acre of land, converted using three different local bigha sizes:
- Rajasthan (pucca bigha, 27,225 sq ft): 43,560 ÷ 27,225 = 1.6 bigha
- Gujarat (17,424 sq ft): 43,560 ÷ 17,424 = 2.5 bigha
- Himachal Pradesh (8,712 sq ft): 43,560 ÷ 8,712 = 5 bigha
Same acre. Same plot of earth. Three answers that differ by more than three times. This is the single most important thing to understand about bigha, and it is why a calculator that does not first ask you which state is worse than useless — it is actively misleading.
What Is a Bigha in Assam?
In Assam, the bigha sits at the top of a three-step traditional ladder that is still printed on official land records today.
| Assam unit | Equals | Square feet | Square metres | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Lecha (????) | — | 144 | 13.38 | 0.00331 |
| 1 Katha (???) | 20 lecha | 2,880 | 267.56 | 0.06612 |
| 1 Bigha (????) | 5 katha / 100 lecha | 14,400 | 1,337.80 | 0.33058 |
| 1 Pura (????) | 4 bigha | 57,600 | 5,351.22 | 1.32231 |
This structure — five kathas to a bigha, twenty lechas to a katha — is what makes Assam distinctive. It is the reason 1 acre works out to 3.025 bigha and not some rounder number.
The Assam katha is not the Bengal katha
This trips up more buyers than any other single fact in eastern India. Assam and West Bengal both use a 14,400 sq ft bigha, so their acre-to-bigha conversion is identical at 3.025. But they subdivide it completely differently:
- Assam: 1 bigha = 5 katha, so 1 katha = 2,880 sq ft
- West Bengal: 1 bigha = 20 katha, so 1 katha = 720 sq ft
An Assam katha is exactly four times a Bengal katha. If you are buying a residential plot quoted at "3 katha" and you assume the Kolkata value while the seller means the Guwahati value, you are out by 6,480 square feet. Urban plots in Guwahati, Jorhat, Silchar and Dibrugarh are routinely quoted in katha, which is precisely where this error does the most damage.
Local vocabulary you may still hear
In rural Assam you may encounter pura bigha (a full 5-katha bigha) used to distinguish the local unit from the smaller bighas of Uttar Pradesh or Uttarakhand, and pora bigha for a half bigha (2.5 katha, 7,200 sq ft). These are conversational terms, not record entries. Treat them as a signal to ask for the figure in writing.
Local usage versus the official record
Whatever a seller, broker or neighbour tells you in bigha, the legally operative area is the one recorded in your Jamabandi — Assam's Record of Rights, maintained under the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886. A Jamabandi displays area in bigha–katha–lecha, and modern records may also carry hectare or are values. When the spoken figure and the recorded figure differ, the record governs. It is also the figure a sub-registrar, a bank valuer and a civil court will all work from.
Bigha to Acre in Assam: Formula and Worked Examples
Formula → Example → Result
Formula: Acres = (Bigha × 14,400) ÷ 43,560
| Example | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 bigha | (1 × 14,400) ÷ 43,560 | 0.3306 acre |
| 5 bigha | (5 × 14,400) ÷ 43,560 | 1.6529 acre |
| 10 bigha | (10 × 14,400) ÷ 43,560 | 3.3058 acre |
| 25 bigha | (25 × 14,400) ÷ 43,560 | 8.2645 acre |
| 50 bigha | (50 × 14,400) ÷ 43,560 | 16.5289 acre |
Reverse formula: Bigha = (Acres × 43,560) ÷ 14,400
| Example | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 acre | 43,560 ÷ 14,400 | 3.025 bigha |
| 2 acres | 87,120 ÷ 14,400 | 6.05 bigha |
| 5 acres | 217,800 ÷ 14,400 | 15.125 bigha |
Reference table: Assam bigha in every common unit
| Bigha | Sq ft | Sq yd | Sq m | Acre | Hectare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14,400 | 1,600 | 1,337.80 | 0.3306 | 0.1338 |
| 2 | 28,800 | 3,200 | 2,675.61 | 0.6612 | 0.2676 |
| 3 | 43,200 | 4,800 | 4,013.41 | 0.9917 | 0.4013 |
| 5 | 72,000 | 8,000 | 6,689.02 | 1.6529 | 0.6689 |
| 10 | 144,000 | 16,000 | 13,378.04 | 3.3058 | 1.3378 |
| 20 | 288,000 | 32,000 | 26,756.08 | 6.6116 | 2.6756 |
| 50 | 720,000 | 80,000 | 66,890.19 | 16.5289 | 6.6890 |
| 100 | 1,440,000 | 160,000 | 133,780.38 | 33.0579 | 13.3780 |
Note on 3 bigha: three Assam bighas come to 43,200 sq ft — 360 sq ft short of an acre. The common shorthand "1 acre = 3 bigha in Assam" is a rounding, not a fact. Over a 20-acre holding that rounding loses 7,200 sq ft, which is half a bigha. Use 3.025.
How Bigha Compares Across Major Indian States
Most guides hand you a memorised list of state figures with no explanation, which means you cannot tell a reliable number from a copied one. There is a better way to think about it.
The biswa rule: why the numbers are what they are
Across most of North India, a bigha is defined as a whole number of biswa (called katha in Bihar and Jharkhand). And the biswa itself comes in essentially two sizes:
| Biswa family | Size of 1 biswa | As a fraction of an acre |
|---|---|---|
| Family A — UP, Bihar, Jharkhand | 1,361.25 sq ft | exactly 1/32 acre |
| Family B — Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, HP, Uttarakhand | 1,089 sq ft | exactly 1/40 acre |
Check it: 1,361.25 × 32 = 43,560. And 1,089 × 40 = 43,560. Family B's biswa is also identical to one guntha, the standard unit of western and southern India.
Now every bigha size falls out cleanly:
| Bigha definition | Family | Sq ft | Sq yd | 1 acre = |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 biswa (pucca bigha) | A | 27,225 | 3,025 | 1.6 |
| 6? biswa | A | 9,075 | 1,008.33 | 4.8 |
| 5 biswa | A | 6,806.25 | 756.25 | 6.4 |
| 20 biswa | B | 21,780 | 2,420 | 2.0 |
| 16 biswa | B | 17,424 | 1,936 | 2.5 |
| 8 biswa | B | 8,712 | 968 | 5.0 |
Every one of those acre figures is a clean fraction. That is not coincidence — it is the signature of a unit that was genuinely derived from survey measure. The pucca bigha of 3,025 square yards is simply a square of 55 yards on each side (55 × 55 = 3,025), which is where its odd-looking square-foot value comes from.
State-by-state summary
| State | Common bigha size (sq ft) | 1 acre ≈ bigha | Notes on variation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assam | 14,400 | 3.025 | Consistent statewide; 1 bigha = 5 katha = 100 lecha |
| West Bengal | 14,400 | 3.025 | Same bigha as Assam, but 20 katha of 720 sq ft |
| Bihar | 27,225 (20 katha) | 1.6 | Substantial local variation; katha values from roughly 720 to 3,267 sq ft are reported in different districts |
| Jharkhand | ~27,225 | ~1.6 | Follows the Bihar katha system; local variation applies |
| Uttar Pradesh | 27,225 (pucca, 20 biswa) | 1.6 | Split state. Purvanchal/eastern districts use the 20-biswa pucca bigha; several western districts use a 5-biswa or 6?-biswa bigha, giving 6.4 or 4.8 per acre |
| Rajasthan | 27,225 (pucca) / 17,424 (kachcha) | 1.6 / 2.5 | Both variants in active use; the pucca bigha is more common in northern districts |
| Haryana | 27,225 (pucca) / 9,075 (kachcha) | 1.6 / 4.8 | Revenue practice is dominated by kanal, marla and killa rather than bigha |
| Punjab | ~9,075 commonly quoted | ~4.8 | As in Haryana, kanal/marla is the working system; bigha usage is inconsistent |
| Himachal Pradesh | 8,712 (8 biswa) | 5.0 | Unusually clean: 1 acre = 5 bigha = 100 biswa exactly |
| Uttarakhand | 6,806.25 (5 biswa) | 6.4 | Kumaon and Garhwal also use nali (2,160 sq ft; 1 acre ≈ 20.17 nali) |
| Gujarat | 17,424 (vigha) | 2.5 | Also uses guntha; 40 guntha = 1 acre |
| Madhya Pradesh | ~12,000 (local, 20 katha of 600) | ~3.63 | See caution below |
Where the sources genuinely disagree
Being honest about uncertainty is more useful than a confident table that is quietly wrong. Three areas need flagging:
1. Madhya Pradesh. The 12,000 sq ft bigha is widely repeated but does not divide the acre cleanly (43,560 ÷ 12,000 = 3.63). Every survey-derived bigha in the biswa families produces an exact fraction. A rounded value like 12,000 is the signature of a market convention rather than a revenue standard. Treat MP figures as approximate and check the hectare value on the state's land record.
2. Punjab and Haryana. You will find 9,070, 9,075, 10,890 and 21,780 sq ft all cited for the "Punjab bigha." The underlying reason is that bigha is not really the operative unit there — the revenue system runs on 1 acre (killa/ghumaon) = 8 kanal = 160 marla, with 1 kanal = 5,445 sq ft and 1 marla = 272.25 sq ft. If your document is from Punjab or Haryana, work in kanal and marla, not bigha.
3. Bihar and eastern UP. The 27,225 sq ft pucca bigha is the standard reference, but district-level katha values vary considerably, and older documents may use a locally measured pole (laggi) whose length was not uniform. Bihar land is also frequently expressed in decimal (1 decimal = 435.6 sq ft = 1/100 acre), which is a far safer unit to work in because it is defined from the acre itself.
Do not assume any of these figures apply to your specific plot without checking your own record. State-level values describe common practice, not a legal guarantee.
Why the Same Word Means Such Different Areas
The bigha did not start life as a unit of area at all. Like the English acre — originally the land one team of oxen could plough in a day — traditional South Asian land units were functional: how much land a household could work, how much seed it took to sow, how much revenue it could bear.
Functional units are inherently local. Land that floods every monsoon, land on a hillside, and flat irrigated land do not support the same effort per unit area, so the local "bigha" settled at different sizes in different places. Assam's bigha grew out of Ahom-era revenue assessment; the pucca bigha of northern India was tied to the surveyor's chain and the 55-yard square; the biswa of the Punjab plains was fixed at a fortieth of an acre.
The British survey and settlement operations of the nineteenth century mapped these local customs onto standard measure rather than abolishing them. That is why the numbers are precise and internally consistent within a region, and completely incompatible across regions. Each one is an accurate translation of a different original.
Independence did not change this either. Under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, every unit of weight or measure used in trade in India must be metric and based on the International System of Units — which makes the square metre India's legal base unit of area. The bigha has no statutory all-India definition. It survives because state land revenue laws and centuries of local practice kept it alive in records and in conversation, not because any national law defines it.
The takeaway: "Bigha" names a category of traditional land unit. It does not name a fixed physical area. Asking "how big is a bigha" without saying where is like asking how much a cup holds without saying whose kitchen.
Acre, Bigha, Square Feet and Hectare: How They Relate
These four units are the ones you will meet on documents, and only three of them are fixed.
| Unit | Exact equivalent |
|---|---|
| 1 acre | 43,560 sq ft |
| 1 acre | 4,840 sq yd |
| 1 acre | 4,046.86 sq m |
| 1 acre | 0.404686 hectare |
| 1 hectare | 10,000 sq m |
| 1 hectare | 107,639 sq ft |
| 1 hectare | 2.471 acre |
| 1 sq m | 10.7639 sq ft |
| 1 bigha | varies by location — no fixed value |
The acre, hectare and square foot mean the same thing in Silchar, Sikar and Siliguri. That is exactly why you should convert into one of them before doing anything that matters.
Practical rule: the moment you are comparing two properties, negotiating a price, or checking a document against a listing, convert everything to square feet or square metres first. Compare in ? per square foot, never in ? per bigha, unless both plots are in the same revenue district. Bigha is fine for conversation. It is a poor unit for decisions.
Assam-Specific: Reading Your Land Record on Dharitree
Dharitree is the citizen-facing portal of the Integrated Land Records Management System (ILRMS), run by Assam's Revenue and Disaster Management Department. It is where you view your Jamabandi — the Record of Rights maintained under the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886 — along with Dag and Patta details, mutation status and land revenue information. Viewing Jamabandi details is free; certified copies are issued through the Circle Office or the state's service-delivery portal.
To pull a record you select District → Circle → Mouza/Village, then search by Dag number (the plot's survey number), Patta number (the ownership document number), or Pattadar name.
Where the area appears, and how to read it
The recorded area is shown in bigha–katha–lecha. An entry reading 2 B – 3 K – 15 L means 2 bigha, 3 kathas and 15 lechas. To convert it:
(2 × 14,400) + (3 × 2,880) + (15 × 144)
= 28,800 + 8,640 + 2,160
= 39,600 sq ft
= 0.909 acre
Do the same for whatever your record shows before you compare it to anything a seller has told you.
Rupit and Faringati are not measurement units
This is the most commonly mangled point in online Assam property content, so it is worth stating plainly. Rupit and Faringati are land classes, not units of area.
Assam's revenue records classify each dag by the kind of land it is. The Assam Land Records Manual directs that the land-class column be filled with entries such as basti, rupit, faringati or tea:
- Basti — homestead land
- Rupit — low-lying wet land suited to transplanted paddy
- Faringati (also written Firinguti) — high or dry land
- Tea — land held for tea cultivation
This classification dates back to nineteenth-century revenue assessment, when different classes carried different revenue rates per bigha, and it still drives the annual land revenue payable today.
Why this matters commercially: the classes usually differ sharply in value. Rupit typically commands more than faringati, and a single dag may contain both. A seller quoting a total area while implying it is all of the higher-value class is describing the plot accurately and pricing it misleadingly. Read the class breakdown, not just the total.
Two Assam-specific checks worth doing
- Land class versus intended use. If you plan to build, agricultural classification is the gate you must pass through. Assam operates a reclassification route for converting agricultural land to non-agricultural use, with a distinct simplified path where the area is below one bigha and the use is limited to the owner's own dwelling house.
- The ceiling limit. The Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1956 caps holdings at 50 bighas per family across the districts it covers, with a limited additional allowance for orchard land. Fifty Assam bighas is 720,000 sq ft — about 16.53 acres, or 6.69 hectares. If you are aggregating agricultural land, this ceiling is expressed in bighas, which is one concrete reason the unit is not merely conversational.
When online and physical documents disagree
A Dharitree entry is the digitised version of the revenue record. It is not a substitute for a certified copy, and some villages — particularly non-cadastral ones — are still being digitised. If the portal shows an area, name or Dag detail that conflicts with your Patta, sale deed or a certified Jamabandi copy, do not proceed on the online figure. Take the documents to the Circle Office, obtain a certified copy, and use the objection/correction route available through the portal and through Mission Basundhara. A mismatch in recorded area is one of the most common causes of stalled mutations and refused loan sanctions in the state.
Bigha, Home Loans, Property Deals and RERA: Why the Unit Matters
Land measurement units do not, by themselves, decide loan or regulatory outcomes. But they interact with the things that do. Here is what is actually true.
RERA governs apartments, not your bigha
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 standardised area disclosure by defining carpet area at Section 2(k) — the net usable floor area of an apartment, including internal partition walls but excluding external walls, service shafts, exclusive balconies, verandahs and open terraces. Section 4 requires promoters to disclose it; Section 13 requires the price of an apartment to be calculated on that basis.
Note what that does and does not cover. RERA's area definition applies to apartments in registered real estate projects. It does not define a bigha, does not standardise how agricultural land is described in a sale deed, and does not apply to a private sale of farmland between two individuals. If someone tells you "RERA requires land to be sold in square feet," they are stretching a rule about flats to cover something it was never written for.
Home loans: the classification matters far more than the unit
An incorrect bigha conversion does not by itself cause a loan to be refused. What lenders actually assess is a combination of factors: the borrower's income and credit profile, clear and marketable title, the property's legal classification, and an independent valuation.
Where land measurement genuinely enters the picture is through consistency. If the sale deed, the Jamabandi and the valuation report describe different areas, that discrepancy becomes a title and documentation query — and those do delay or derail sanctions.
The bigger obstacle for agricultural land is classification, not arithmetic. Most banks and housing finance companies do not extend home loans or standard loans against property secured on unconverted agricultural land. Lenders generally require documentary proof of conversion to non-agricultural status before creating a mortgage, and several states additionally restrict who may purchase agricultural land at all. Plot loans typically require the land to be non-agricultural and within municipal or development authority limits.
So the accurate statement is: the bigha figure does not determine loan approval. Unclear or inconsistent documentation of land area can create verification problems, and land classification can rule out a loan product entirely — but approval depends on the property, the paperwork, the valuation, the borrower and the lender's own policy.
What to check before you sign
- Does the area in the sale deed match the area in the Jamabandi or equivalent record of rights?
- Is the land class recorded consistent with what you intend to do with it?
- Has the unit been stated in writing, with the local square-foot equivalent spelled out?
- Do you have a certified copy of the record, not just a screenshot from a portal?
Common Mistakes When Converting Bigha Across States
Mistake 1 — Assuming 1 bigha is the same everywhere. Why it happens: the word is used identically across a dozen states, so it sounds standardised. How to avoid it: treat "bigha" as incomplete information. The complete unit is "bigha in [district, state]."
Mistake 2 — Applying Assam's conversion to another state. Why it happens: Assam's 3.025 figure is one of the most searched, so it leaks into general use. How to avoid it: identify the location before touching the calculator. Assam's 14,400 sq ft bigha is nearly double Uttarakhand's and roughly half Rajasthan's pucca bigha.
Mistake 3 — Confusing bigha with its subdivisions. Why it happens: katha, biswa, lecha and dhur all sound like they should be standard. How to avoid it: remember that the Assam katha (2,880 sq ft) is four times the West Bengal katha (720 sq ft), and that the same word biswa means 1,361.25 sq ft in one belt and 1,089 sq ft in another.
Mistake 4 — Trusting an unverified online conversion. Why it happens: generic converters return a number without asking where the land is. How to avoid it: if a tool gives you a bigha figure without asking for a state, close it. Prefer sources that show their arithmetic.
Mistake 5 — Treating an approximate conversion as a legal measurement. Why it happens: a printed number feels authoritative. How to avoid it: conversions are for understanding. Sale deeds, records of rights and survey reports are for transacting.
Mistake 6 — Ignoring the unit and class written on the record. Why it happens: buyers read the number and skip the label. How to avoid it: read the whole entry — unit, class and area. In Assam that means noting the rupit/faringati/basti split, not just the total.
Mistake 7 — Comparing prices without standardising area. Why it happens: sellers quote per bigha because it makes numbers look attractive. How to avoid it: convert both properties to ? per square foot before comparing. A plot that looks cheaper per bigha can be substantially more expensive per square foot.
Quick Reference: Acre to Bigha Conversion Chart
Assam: acre → bigha (and in record format)
| Acre | Sq ft | Bigha | As recorded (B–K–L) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.25 | 10,890 | 0.7563 | 0 B – 3 K – 15.6 L |
| 0.50 | 21,780 | 1.5125 | 1 B – 2 K – 11.3 L |
| 1 | 43,560 | 3.0250 | 3 B – 0 K – 2.5 L |
| 2 | 87,120 | 6.0500 | 6 B – 0 K – 5.0 L |
| 3 | 130,680 | 9.0750 | 9 B – 0 K – 7.5 L |
| 5 | 217,800 | 15.1250 | 15 B – 0 K – 12.5 L |
| 10 | 435,600 | 30.2500 | 30 B – 1 K – 5.0 L |
Assam: bigha → acre
| Bigha | Sq ft | Acre |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14,400 | 0.3306 |
| 2 | 28,800 | 0.6612 |
| 5 | 72,000 | 1.6529 |
| 10 | 144,000 | 3.3058 |
| 20 | 288,000 | 6.6116 |
One acre, converted every way
| Region | 1 acre = |
|---|---|
| Assam / West Bengal | 3.025 bigha |
| Bihar / Jharkhand / east UP / Rajasthan (pucca) | 1.6 bigha |
| Gujarat / Rajasthan (kachcha) | 2.5 bigha |
| Punjab / Haryana (kachcha bigha) | 4.8 bigha |
| Himachal Pradesh | 5 bigha |
| Uttarakhand / west UP | 6.4 bigha |
| Anywhere | 43,560 sq ft · 4,047 sq m · 0.4047 hectare · 40 guntha · 100 cent · 8 kanal |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many bigha make one acre in Assam?
3.025 bigha. One Assam bigha is 14,400 sq ft and one acre is 43,560 sq ft, so 43,560 ÷ 14,400 = 3.025. In record format that is 3 bigha, 0 katha and 2.5 lecha. The widely repeated shorthand "3 bigha" is short by 360 sq ft per acre.
Is 1 acre equal to the same number of bigha across India?
No. The acre is fixed everywhere, but the bigha is a regional unit whose size varies. One acre works out to roughly 1.6 bigha in Bihar and parts of Rajasthan, 3.025 in Assam and West Bengal, 5 in Himachal Pradesh and 6.4 in Uttarakhand. Any single national figure is wrong somewhere.
Is Assam's bigha the same as West Bengal's?
The bigha is the same size — 14,400 sq ft in both, giving 3.025 per acre. The subdivisions are not. Assam divides a bigha into 5 kathas of 2,880 sq ft; West Bengal divides it into 20 kathas of 720 sq ft. Assam also uses the lecha (144 sq ft), which West Bengal does not.
Which Indian states use comparatively large bigha measurements?
The largest commonly reported bigha is the pucca bigha of 27,225 sq ft, used in Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan and Haryana. The smallest in common use is the 5-biswa bigha of 6,806.25 sq ft found in Uttarakhand and some western UP districts. A strict ranking is misleading because several of these states use more than one bigha internally.
What do Rupit and Faringati mean on an Assam land record?
They are land classifications, not units of area. Rupit denotes low-lying wet land suited to transplanted paddy; Faringati denotes high or dry land. Basti (homestead) and tea are the other common classes. The classification originated in revenue assessment, where each class carried a different rate per bigha, and it still affects both revenue liability and market value.
How do I check my land record online in Assam?
Use the Dharitree portal on Assam's ILRMS system, run by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department. Select district, circle and village, then search by Dag number, Patta number or Pattadar name. Viewing is free. For anything legal — registration, mutation, a loan file, a dispute — obtain a certified copy from the Circle Office, because the online view is not a substitute for it.
Does the bigha figure affect my home loan approval anywhere in India?
Not by itself. Approval depends on title, documentation, the property's legal classification, the valuation, your income and credit profile, and the lender's policy. Where land area does matter is consistency: if the deed, the record of rights and the valuation report state different areas, that becomes a documentation query. Separately, most lenders will not finance unconverted agricultural land at all, regardless of how it is measured.
How many square feet are in 1 acre?
43,560 square feet. Also 4,840 square yards, 4,046.86 square metres and 0.404686 hectare. This value is fixed and identical worldwide.
How do I convert bigha to acre?
Multiply the bigha figure by the local size of one bigha in square feet, then divide by 43,560. You cannot do this without knowing the region — that local figure is the whole calculation.
Why does bigha vary from state to state?
Because it began as a functional measure of workable or revenue-bearing land rather than a fixed geometric area, and settled at different sizes in different regions. Nineteenth-century survey operations recorded those local customs against standard measure instead of replacing them, and state revenue systems carried them forward.
Is bigha a standardised land unit in India?
No. Under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, units used in trade must be metric and SI-based, making the square metre India's legal base unit of area. The bigha has no single statutory all-India definition. Official records increasingly express area in hectares or square metres, with traditional units retained alongside them in states like Assam.
What is a lecha, and how small is it?
The smallest unit in the Assam system: 144 sq ft, or a square of 12 feet on each side. Twenty lechas make a katha, and 100 lechas make a bigha. Because Jamabandi entries carry a lecha component, ignoring it introduces a real error — 15 lechas is 2,160 sq ft.
Final Takeaway
There is no single India-wide acre-to-bigha conversion, and any source that gives you one without asking where your land is has already made a mistake. The acre never changes; the bigha does.
For Assam, the figure you need is 1 acre = 3.025 bigha, built on a 14,400 sq ft bigha of 5 kathas and 100 lechas. For anywhere else, find your local bigha size in square feet and divide 43,560 by it — that one division is the entire calculation.
Three habits will keep you out of trouble. Convert to square feet or square metres before comparing properties or negotiating price, because those units mean the same thing everywhere. Read the whole record entry — unit, class and area — rather than just the headline number; in Assam that means the rupit, faringati and basti breakdown as well as the total. And treat every online conversion, this one included, as a way to understand your land, not as a way to transact on it. When money changes hands, the sale deed, the record of rights and a certified copy from the Circle Office are the documents that count.
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