Land Area Units in India: The Numbers That Matter
- •1 acre = 0.4047 hectare = 43,560 sq ft = 4,840 sq yards (gaj) — the four conversions people search for most.
- •1 acre = 40 guntha, used in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana land records.
- •Cent and decimal are the same unit (435.6 sq ft, 1/100 acre) — "cent" in Kerala/Tamil Nadu/Andhra Pradesh, "decimal" in Bihar/Odisha/West Bengal/Assam.
- •1 kanal = 20 marla = 5,445 sq ft, using the modern "big" marla of 272.25 sq ft (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K).
- •The bigha and its sub-unit katha have no national standard — bigha varies up to 3x by state, and even by "pucca" vs "kachha" measurement within the same state.
The Real Problem This Solves
Land deals in India run into a unit problem that currency conversion never has: there's no single global standard. A property listing in Pune quotes guntha, the buyer thinks in square feet, the family's ancestral land record in Bihar is denominated in bigha and katha, and none of these convert with a clean round number. Searching "acre to hectare," "acre to guntha," or "bigha to square feet" separately for every pair of units you need is slow, and generic conversion sites often hardcode just one region's bigha or katha without telling you it's the wrong one for your state.
This calculator puts all 21 commonly used units, standard metric/imperial (acre, hectare, sq ft, sq meter, sq yard/gaj) plus guntha, cent, decimal, marla, kanal, ground, six state-specific bigha variants, and three state-specific katha variants, on one page with a single from/to selector, so you convert any pair directly and see the same value across every other unit at once.
Why Bigha and Katha Need a State Selector (and Guntha Doesn't)
Most Indian land units are geometrically fixed regardless of location: a guntha is defined as 33 ft × 33 ft = 1,089 sq ft everywhere it's used, so 1 acre is always exactly 40 guntha, and 1 hectare is always exactly 2.471 acres. Cent/decimal, marla, kanal, and ground work the same way, one fixed number, no regional variation.
Bigha and katha are different. They were never standardized by the British survey system the way the acre and guntha were, so each region kept its own customary size. In West Bengal, 1 bigha = 14,400 sq ft = 20 katha, so 1 katha = 720 sq ft. Assam uses the same 14,400 sq ft bigha but divides it differently — the Bigha-Katha-Lecha system splits 1 bigha into just 5 katha, so 1 Assam katha = 2,880 sq ft, four times larger than a West Bengal katha despite the identical name. Bihar's bigha is 27,225 sq ft (20 katha of 1,361.25 sq ft each). In Rajasthan, there are two tiers: a "pucca" bigha of 27,225 sq ft and a smaller "kachha" bigha of 17,424 sq ft. Punjab and Haryana commonly cite a kachha bigha around 9,070 sq ft, under a third of Rajasthan's pucca figure.
Example: 5 bigha of land sounds like a fixed amount, but it's 72,000 sq ft (1.65 acres) in West Bengal, 136,125 sq ft (3.125 acres) in Bihar, and only 45,350 sq ft (about 1.04 acres) using the Punjab/Haryana kachha figure — nearly a 3x spread for the identical unit name. That's why this converter lists bigha and katha separately by state instead of offering one ambiguous entry for each.
| Region | Bigha (sq ft) | Katha (sq ft) | 5 Bigha in Acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Bengal | 14,400 | 720 (1/20 bigha) | 1.65 acres |
| Assam | 14,400 | 2,880 (1/5 bigha) | 1.65 acres |
| Bihar | 27,225 | 1,361.25 (1/20 bigha) | 3.125 acres |
| Rajasthan (Pucca) | 27,225 | — | 3.125 acres |
| Rajasthan (Kachha) | 17,424 | — | 2.00 acres |
| Punjab / Haryana | 9,070 | — | ≈ 1.04 acres |
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I convert acre to hectare?
1 acre = 0.4047 hectare, and 1 hectare = 2.4711 acres. Enter your value, pick Acre and Hectare in the From/To selectors, and both directions update instantly.
Is 1 acre always equal to 40 guntha?
Yes — this is a fixed geometric relationship (an acre is 43,560 sq ft, a guntha is 1,089 sq ft, and 43,560 ÷ 1,089 = 40) used consistently in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh/Telangana land records.
Is decimal the same as cent?
Yes — they're identical units (435.6 sq ft, 1/100 acre) with different regional names. "Cent" is used in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh; "decimal" (sometimes "dismil") is used in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, and Assam.
Is katha the same as bigha?
No — katha is a smaller sub-unit of bigha, not an alternative name for it. How many katha make up a bigha depends on the region: West Bengal and Bihar both use 20 katha per bigha, but Assam's Bigha-Katha-Lecha system uses only 5 katha per bigha, making an Assam katha exactly 4x larger than a West Bengal katha.
Why does bigha give a different answer than other land unit converters?
Because bigha genuinely has no single correct value — it depends entirely on which state and, in some states, which measurement convention (pucca or kachha) applies. Any converter showing a single flat "1 bigha = X sq ft" without asking your region is making an assumption that may not match your local land records.
Which bigha or katha should I use for my land?
Whichever one matches your local land record or revenue department convention — this varies by district in some states, so confirm the exact figure with your local land records office or your seller's registered documents before relying on any converter for a transaction.
What's the difference between a gaj and a square yard?
None — gaj is simply the common North Indian name for a square yard, both equal exactly 9 square feet, so 1 acre = 4,840 gaj.
Can I convert directly between two Indian units, like guntha to cent, without going through square feet?
Yes — pick guntha as "From" and cent as "To" directly. The calculator converts through square feet internally as a common base, but you only ever see the two units you actually care about.