Land area unit converter for India
India measures land in dozens of overlapping units. A plot listed in bigha in Uttar Pradesh, katha in Bihar, ground in Chennai, gunta in Maharashtra, kanal in Punjab and cent in Tamil Nadu can be the same size on the ground — but each seller quotes a different number. This converter turns one value into every unit at once, so you can compare like for like.
Enter an area in any unit — bigha, katha, biswa, gunta, cent, ground, marla, kanal, acre, hectare, are, square feet, square metre or square yard — pick your state, and the table below the input shows the equivalent in all fourteen units together. Square feet, square metre and square yard are always shown, because they are the units every listing platform and registry can read.
Everything runs in your browser: nothing you type is uploaded, and there is no account to create. The fixed units (acre, hectare, gunta, cent, marla, kanal, ground) are exact; the regional units (bigha, katha, biswa) use the most-cited value for each state and are approximate — always confirm against local land records before you transact.
How to use the land area converter
The converter is built around a single idea: pick your state once, then read every unit from one number. There is no metric/imperial toggle, because the real source of confusion here is region, not measurement system — a bigha in Assam and a bigha in Rajasthan differ by almost double.
How to convert land area units in 5 steps
- Choose your stateSelect your state in the Region control. This sets the local value for bigha, katha and biswa — the three units that change from state to state. Fixed units like acre and gunta are unaffected.
- Enter the valueType the area you want to convert into the Value field. It accepts decimals, so 2.5 bigha or 0.75 acre both work.
- Pick the from unitChoose the unit your value is in — for example bigha, katha, gunta, cent, acre or square feet — from the From unit list.
- Pick a focus unit (optional)Choose a target unit to highlight one row of the table, for example square feet. This drives the summary in the results panel and the scaled-plot diagram.
- Read the all-units tableThe table shows your area in all fourteen units at once. Copy a single row or the whole table, export a CSV, or copy a shareable link that reproduces the exact conversion.
Why bigha, katha and biswa vary by state
Unlike the acre or the hectare, bigha, katha and biswa have no single legal definition. They are customary units that were standardised locally — often district by district — long before any national system, so the same word means a different area in each state.
One bigha is about 27,000 sq ft in Uttar Pradesh, 27,225 sq ft in Bihar and Rajasthan, 14,400 sq ft in West Bengal and Assam, and roughly 17,424 sq ft (a 'vigha') in Gujarat. The subdivision differs too: a bigha is 20 katha in West Bengal and Bihar, but only 5 katha in Assam — so one Assam katha (about 2,880 sq ft) is four times a West Bengal katha (about 720 sq ft), even though both states share the same 14,400 sq ft bigha.
In Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand a larger 'pucca' (masonry-measured) bigha and a smaller 'kachcha' bigha are both used locally, and the kachcha figure can be roughly 60–65% of the pucca value shown here. Madhya Pradesh and Haryana are the least settled: sources disagree widely, and in Punjab and Haryana the kanal–marla system, not the bigha, is the everyday standard. Treat every regional value as an approximation and confirm with local revenue records for any legal or financial decision.
The figure below compares six common units at their Uttar Pradesh sizes. Regional units (katha, bigha) are marked as approximate; the others are exact fractions of the acre or the metric system.
Full conversion reference
These are the fixed units — those with a single, nationally consistent value. Each is an exact fraction of the international acre or a metric base unit, so the figures below do not vary by state. Bigha, katha and biswa are region-dependent and are listed separately in the next section.
| Unit | Square feet | Square metres | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Square feet | 1 | 0.0929 | International foot (1 ft = 0.3048 m) |
| Square yard | 9 | 0.8361 | 9 square feet (1 yard = 3 feet) |
| Square metre | 10.76 | 1 | Metric base unit — 1 m × 1 m |
| Marla | 272.25 | 25.29 | 1/160 acre (Punjab, Haryana, HP, J&K) |
| Cent | 435.60 | 40.47 | 1/100 acre (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka) |
| Are | 1,076.39 | 100 | 10 m × 10 m; 100 are = 1 hectare |
| Gunta | 1,089 | 101.17 | 1/40 acre (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka) |
| Ground | 2,400 | 222.97 | Fixed 2,400 sq ft (Tamil Nadu / Chennai) |
| Kanal | 5,445 | 505.86 | 1/8 acre = 20 marla (Punjab, Haryana) |
| Acre | 43,560 | 4,046.86 | Statute acre (66 ft × 660 ft) |
| Hectare | 107,639.10 | 10,000 | 100 m × 100 m; metric |
Fixed units are exact and do not vary by state. Square-foot and square-metre values are rounded for display.
Bigha, katha and biswa by state
The table below lists the bigha, katha and biswa value this converter uses for each state, in square feet. Values are the most-cited 'pucca' (larger) figure for each state and are approximate — district-level and pucca/kachcha variation is common, so verify against local land records before you transact.
| State | Bigha (sq ft) | Katha (sq ft) | Biswa (sq ft) | Primary system | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uttar Pradesh | 27,000 | 1,350 | 1,350 | Bigha | Widely cited |
| Bihar | 27,225 | 1,361 | 1,361 | Bigha | Widely cited |
| West Bengal | 14,400 | 720 | 720 | Bigha | Widely cited |
| Rajasthan | 27,225 | 1,361 | 1,361 | Bigha | Widely cited |
| Madhya Pradesh | 12,000 | 600 | 600 | Bigha | Disputed — verify locally |
| Punjab | 27,225 | 1,361 | 1,361 | Kanal / marla | Disputed — verify locally |
| Haryana | 27,225 | 1,361 | 1,361 | Kanal / marla | Disputed — verify locally |
| Gujarat | 17,424 | 871.20 | 871.20 | Bigha | Widely cited |
| Assam | 14,400 | 2,880 | 720 | Bigha | Widely cited |
| Other / national average | 27,000 | 1,350 | 1,350 | Bigha | Disputed — verify locally |
Regional values are approximate — most-cited pucca figures. Confirm with local revenue records before any transaction.
In Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand a smaller 'kachcha' bigha is also used locally and can be roughly 60–65% of the pucca value shown here. In Punjab and Haryana the kanal–marla system is the everyday standard; bigha values there are disputed. Madhya Pradesh sources disagree most (values from 12,000 to 27,225 sq ft are cited).
Frequently asked questions
How many square feet are in 1 bigha?
It depends on the state. One bigha is about 27,000 sq ft in Uttar Pradesh, 27,225 sq ft in Bihar and Rajasthan, 14,400 sq ft in West Bengal and Assam, and about 17,424 sq ft in Gujarat (where it is called a vigha). Select your state in the Region control and the converter uses the correct local value.
Why does the bigha value change when I switch state?
Because the bigha is a customary unit with no single legal definition — it was standardised locally, often district by district, long before any national system. The converter stores the most-cited value for each state so that '1 bigha' resolves to the right number of square feet for your region.
How many square feet are in 1 katha?
One katha is about 1,350 sq ft in Uttar Pradesh, 1,361 sq ft in Bihar, and 720 sq ft in West Bengal. Assam is the exception: there a bigha is only 5 katha (not 20), so one Assam katha is about 2,880 sq ft — roughly four times a West Bengal katha. The converter handles this per state automatically.
What is a biswa?
A biswa is a subdivision of the bigha, most common in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. In most of Uttar Pradesh a bigha is 20 biswa, so one biswa is about 1,350 sq ft. Like the bigha, the exact biswa size varies locally, so treat it as approximate.
What is the difference between a pucca and a kachcha bigha?
In Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand two bigha sizes are used: the larger 'pucca' bigha (masonry-measured) and the smaller 'kachcha' bigha. A kachcha bigha can be roughly 60–65% of the pucca value. This converter shows the pucca figure, which is what most listing platforms quote — confirm which one your seller means before you transact.
How do I convert bigha to acre?
One acre is 43,560 sq ft. In Uttar Pradesh, where a bigha is about 27,000 sq ft, one bigha is roughly 0.62 acre, so about 1.6 bigha make an acre. Because the bigha changes by state, the exact bigha-to-acre ratio does too — enter your value with the correct state selected and read the acre row of the table.
What are gunta, cent and ground?
These are fixed units with the same value everywhere. A gunta (or guntha) is 1/40 of an acre, about 1,089 sq ft, common in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat. A cent is 1/100 of an acre, about 435.6 sq ft, common in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. A ground is a fixed 2,400 sq ft, used mainly in Chennai and Tamil Nadu.
What are marla and kanal?
Marla and kanal are the standard units in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. A marla is 1/160 of an acre, about 272.25 sq ft, and a kanal is 20 marla, or 1/8 of an acre — about 5,445 sq ft. Both are fixed nationally, so they do not change by state in this converter.
How accurate are the conversions?
The fixed units — acre, hectare, are, gunta, cent, ground, marla, kanal, square feet, square metre and square yard — are exact, because they are defined fractions of the acre or the metric system. The regional units — bigha, katha and biswa — are approximate: they vary by district and by pucca/kachcha custom, and the values here are the most-cited figure for each state. Always verify regional units against local land records before a legal or financial decision.
Is the converter private?
Yes. Every calculation runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to any server, and only your last-used region is remembered, in your own browser's local storage.