Odisha is planning to do away with separate revenue department clearance for converting agricultural land to non-agricultural use in urban areas, making municipal and development authorities the single point of approval under a proposed amendment to the state’s six-decade-old land law.
The Odisha Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which is likely to be tabled in the monsoon session of the Odisha Assembly, would amend the six-decade-old land law, bringing an end to the requirement of approaching local tehsildars for conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural use. HT has reviewed a copy of the proposed amendment.
Under the current legal framework, landowners in urban areas have to secure building plan and layout approvals from municipal authorities while separately applying to the state’s Revenue Department to convert the classification of agricultural land under Section 8-A of the Odisha Land Reforms Act, 1960.
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“This overlapping jurisdiction causes avoidable delays, high costs, and administrative backlogs for citizens and businesses. The new Bill addresses this bottleneck by stipulating that the requirement to obtain explicit conversion permission from a revenue officer will cease to apply to lands situated within municipal corporations, municipalities, notified area councils, or regional development authorities,” a senior official from the state Revenue and Disaster Management Department said.
{{/usCountry}}“This overlapping jurisdiction causes avoidable delays, high costs, and administrative backlogs for citizens and businesses. The new Bill addresses this bottleneck by stipulating that the requirement to obtain explicit conversion permission from a revenue officer will cease to apply to lands situated within municipal corporations, municipalities, notified area councils, or regional development authorities,” a senior official from the state Revenue and Disaster Management Department said.
{{/usCountry}}This exemption is, however, strictly contingent on the proposed utilisation of the land conforming to approved building plans, master plans, development schemes, or prevailing local bye-laws.
Rather than running parallel processes, municipal and urban authorities will now assess and collect land conversion fees directly during the plan approval stage, remitting them to the state treasury. Upon receipt of the fees, the local municipal authorities will electronically notify the Revenue Department. The local revenue officer will then update the official Record-of-Rights (RoR) to non-agricultural status within a prescribed timeframe, without requiring a separate application from the landowner.
The exemption, however, would not be unconditional. The proposed land use must conform to an approved layout or building plan and comply with the applicable master plan, development plan or town planning scheme. Where no such plan exists, the proposed use must comply with prevailing local bylaws and regulations.
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The Bill also specifies categories of land that cannot be converted under the proposed provisions. These include land recorded as “Jungle” kisam or notified as forest under the applicable forest law, sites protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, and any other land whose conversion is prohibited under a special law.
The proposed amendment would also provide a transition mechanism for applications already pending when the new Act comes into force. Such applications would continue to be dealt with under the existing provisions, although applicants would have the option of withdrawing them and applying afresh under the amended provisions.
The Bill further proposes changes to Section 73 of the Odisha Land Reforms Act. The section’s heading would be changed to cover specific sections or provisions of the Act that may not apply to certain lands..