India Real Estate Dictionary

A

1 terms

Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC)

General & Places

Also called: AKIC

A planned industrial corridor along the eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor linking Punjab and West Bengal through Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, with influence areas that also take in Uttarakhand and the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh belt in Himachal Pradesh. Nodes proposed in various states aim at manufacturing and logistics, with progress differing by location.

Example & agent tip

Example: A Patiala-based trader hears of an AKIC node in the area and asks the state industries department what is actually notified.

Agent tip: Corridor announcements often come before land acquisition. Check official notifications before acting on a rumour.

B

3 terms

Banglarbhumi

Land Records

Also called: Banglar Bhumi

West Bengal's online portal for land records, run by the land and land reforms department. Users search the record of rights and plot maps, apply for mutation and check the status of applications.

Example & agent tip

Example: Before buying a plot in New Town, Kolkata, Rina searches the plot on Banglarbhumi and sees that the recorded land type is farmland, not residential.

Agent tip: Print the portal record on the day of registration. Banglarbhumi also shows the mutation status, so check whether the seller's own name is already recorded.

Bari

General & Places

Also called: বাড়ি, Bari Bhara

The Bengali word for house or home. It is used in forms such as "bari bhara" for house rent, and for an independent house in a listing.

Example & agent tip

Example: A family in Howrah sees a "bari bhara" notice outside a ground-floor house.

Agent tip: Ask for a written rent agreement even in informal "bari bhara" deals, and for the owner's identity documents.

Bataidar (Sharecropper)

Land Records

Also called: Barga, Bargadar, Operation Barga

A sharecropper in West Bengal who cultivates another's land for a share of the crop and whose name is recorded under the state's Operation Barga programme. A recorded bataidar has hereditary tenancy rights, which cannot be ended at will.

Example & agent tip

Example: A buyer in Hooghly finds a recorded bataidar in the khatian of a 3-acre field. The seller said the land was free of tenants.

Agent tip: Look in the remarks column of the record for barga entries. A recorded bataidar has strong rights and affects the land's value.

C

1 terms

Chatak

Measurement

A small traditional land unit in Bengal and eastern India, a sixteenth part of a katha, used for house plots and homestead land in cities and villages.

Example & agent tip

Example: A plot in a Kolkata suburb was sold as two kathas and a few chataks.

Agent tip: Local units differ even within a state. Ask for the plot area in square feet for the sale agreement.

Related: Katha Biswa Square Foot

D

2 terms

Dag Number (Plot Number)

Land Records

Also called: Dag, Plot Number

The plot or parcel number used in West Bengal, Assam and parts of eastern India to identify a piece of land on the village map and in the khatian. It does the same job as the khasra or survey number in other states.

Example & agent tip

Example: The deed describes land at Mouza Bishnupur as Dag No. 214, which matches the map but not the khatian, where the same land is under Dag No. 241.

Agent tip: A typing swap in the dag number is common. Always cross-check it across the deed, khatian and map.

Dolil

General & Places

Also called: দলিল, Deed, Mother Deed

The Bengali word for a deed, used for registered property documents such as the sale deed. The "mother deed" or "matrik dolil" is the earlier deed showing how the seller got the property.

Example & agent tip

Example: A seller in Kolkata hands over the original dolil and the previous owner's dolil to the buyer's lawyer.

Agent tip: Ask for the chain of previous deeds, the matrik dolil included, to check title.

J

1 terms

Jomi

General & Places

Also called: জমি, Jami

The Bengali word for land. In West Bengal, property talk often uses it with other words such as "jomi-jama" for land and property, and "bastu jomi" for land recorded for homestead use.

Example & agent tip

Example: A buyer in Hooghly checks whether the jomi is recorded as bastu or as agricultural before agreeing on a price.

Agent tip: In West Bengal, check the record of rights and land classification for any jomi, as conversion is needed for non-agricultural use.

K

2 terms

Katha

Measurement

A land unit used in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam. In West Bengal one katha is 720 sq ft and 20 katha make one bigha. Other states use different sizes.

Example & agent tip

Example: A 3 katha plot in Kolkata is 2,160 sq ft.

Agent tip: Katha is not standard across states. Confirm the local measure with the revenue office before pricing.

Related: Bigha Decimal

Khatian

Land Records

Also called: Khatiyan, Khatiyan Number

The Record of Rights in West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar, recording the name of the holder, plot numbers (dag), area and nature of the land. A new khatian is prepared at each settlement or survey.

Example & agent tip

Example: In Burdwan, a buyer asks for the latest khatian and finds that the plot is jointly held by three siblings, though only one signed the sale agreement.

Agent tip: A khatian can list co-sharers. Insist that every recorded co-sharer signs the sale deed.

N

1 terms

New Town Rajarhat

General & Places

Also called: Rajarhat

A planned township on the north-eastern edge of Kolkata, developed by the Hidco authority, with an IT hub, large housing complexes and wide roads. It is a major growth area of the Kolkata region.

Example & agent tip

Example: A Salt Lake family shifts to a flat in Rajarhat for a larger home closer to Action Area office parks.

Agent tip: Check whether the land belongs to Hidco, a private owner or a lease arrangement, since the paperwork differs.

W

1 terms

WBRERA

Authorities

The West Bengal Real Estate Regulatory Authority. West Bengal first passed its own law, the West Bengal Housing Industry Regulation Act (WB-HIRA), which the Supreme Court struck down in 2021 as clashing with RERA. The state then set up WBRERA under the central Act.

Legal basis: Forum for People's Collective Efforts v. State of West Bengal (Supreme Court, May 2021).

Example & agent tip

Example: A Kolkata buyer who earlier relied on HIRA now checks WBRERA.

Agent tip: Do not quote HIRA as a current law for West Bengal.

Related: RERA Authority Katha

How to become a RERA agent in West Bengal →

Z

1 terms

Zamindari Abolition

Land Records

Also called: Zamindari Abolition Act, Zamindari Uninmulan

The post-Independence land reform under which intermediaries who collected rent from cultivators were removed, and the cultivators became direct holders from the state. State laws, passed mostly in the 1950s, created holder categories such as bhumidhar and raiyat.

Example & agent tip

Example: A property in Bihar goes back to a former zamindari estate. The buyer's lawyer traces whether the estate's vesting in the state is reflected in the later khatian.

Agent tip: For old family or estate land, trace the chain to the vesting date, then to a settlement or allotment. It can reveal whether the seller has a valid root.

Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC)

Banglarbhumi

Bari

Bataidar (Sharecropper)

Chatak

Dag Number (Plot Number)

Dolil

Jomi

Katha

Khatian

New Town Rajarhat

WBRERA

Zamindari Abolition

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