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Real Estate Land Converter

Convert the land units that appear in property listings — acres and hectares, square feet and metres, plus cent, guntha, ground, marla, kanal, bigha, katha and dhur. Enter a plot area and press Convert.

Written and reviewed by SM Arijul Islam · Last reviewed 20 October 2026 · Editorial standards · Report an error

About the land converter

Land is the one thing people still measure in local units. A buyer in Texas reads acres and square feet, a buyer in Kerala reads cents, an apartment brochure in Chennai quotes square feet and grounds, and a farm listing in Uttar Pradesh is priced per bigha. Every value here is converted through the square metre.

Imperial and metric units are exact. Traditional South Asian units are not: bigha and katha in particular change size from state to state, so this page uses the pucca North Indian definitions and warns where a local variation is likely.

Definitions used here

Traditional land units with their square metre values
Unit	Equivalent	Square metres
Cent / decimal	1/100 acre = 435.6 ft²	40.469 m²
Guntha	1,089 ft²	101.17 m²
Ground	2,400 ft²	222.97 m²
Ankanam	72 ft²	6.689 m²
Marla	272.25 ft²	25.29 m²
Kanal	20 marla = 5,445 ft²	505.86 m²
Bigha (pucca)	27,225 ft²	2,529.29 m²
Katha	1/20 bigha = 1,361.25 ft²	126.46 m²
Dhur	1/20 katha = 68.06 ft²	6.323 m²
Rood	1/4 acre	1,011.71 m²
Perch / square rod	1/160 acre	25.293 m²
Square (roofing)	100 ft²	9.290 m²

Traditional units vary by region

Regional variation in the size of a bigha and a katha
Region	1 bigha
Uttar Pradesh (pucca)	27,225 ft² = 2,529 m²
Uttar Pradesh (kaccha)	9,075 ft² = 843 m²
Bihar	about 27,220 ft² = 2,529 m²
West Bengal	14,400 ft² = 1,338 m²
Rajasthan	27,225 ft² = 2,529 m²
Nepal	about 6,772 m²
Gujarat	16,200 ft² = 1,505 m²

Always confirm a traditional unit against the local revenue office before you rely on a figure in a contract. Two bighas in neighbouring districts can differ by a factor of three.

1 katha, 1 bigha and 1 acre in square feet

Ask for 1 katha in square feet and the honest answer depends on where the land is: 720 ft² (66.89 m²) in West Bengal and Bangladesh, but 1,361.25 ft² (126.5 m²) in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The same split applies to 1 bigha in square feet — 14,400 ft² in Bengal, 27,225 ft² for a UP pucca bigha — and therefore to 1 acre in bigha and 1 hectare in bigha, which are 3.025 and 7.475 in the Bengal system but only 1.6 and 3.95 against the UP pucca bigha. A bigha is 20 katha in both systems, so the katha inherits the same regional variation.

Katha, bigha and acre by region
Conversion	Bengal (West Bengal, Bangladesh)	Bihar and UP (pucca)
1 katha in square feet	720	1,361.25
1 bigha in square feet	14,400	27,225
1 acre in bigha	3.025	1.6
1 hectare in bigha	7.475	3.95
1 katha in decimal	1.653	3.125
katha in 1 acre	60.5	32

Two conversions catch people out. A bigha in Uttar Pradesh is roughly twice a Bengal bigha, so a price quoted per bigha is not comparable across states without a square-foot figure. And a kaccha bigha in UP is only 9,075 ft², a third of the pucca figure, which is why registered sale deeds spell out the unit rather than shorthand.

Worked examples

1 acre = 43,560 ft² = 4,046.86 m² = 0.404686 hectare = 100 cents.
A 2,400 ft² house plot on a Chennai ground is one ground, or 222.97 m².
5 kanal of prime land is 5 × 505.86 = 2,529 m², which is just over 1 bigha and 0.625 acre.
A 30 ft × 40 ft plot is 1,200 ft² = 111.48 m² = 2.76 cents.

Frequently asked questions

Why is land quoted in square feet when metric is official?

Property is priced by habit. Buyers compare per-square-foot rates far more easily than per-square-metre rates, so listings tend to follow the local convention even where the land records are metric.

Is a cent the same as a decimal?

Yes. Both mean one hundredth of an acre, which is 435.6 square feet or 40.47 square metres. The two names are used in different regions.

How many square feet are in a hectare?

107,639.1 square feet. A hectare is 10,000 m², which is about 2.471 acres.

What is carpet area versus built-up area?

Carpet area is the usable floor inside the walls, while built-up and super built-up areas add walls, balconies and a share of common space. Convert the same unit before comparing two listings.

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a bigha is a fixed size. It is a local unit and varies by state and even by district.
Confusing square feet with square yards. A "gaj" is a square yard and equals nine square feet.
Mixing acres and hectares in a budget. One hectare is 2.471 acres, which is a 60% error if swapped.
Using the plot's outer boundary where easements or setbacks apply.

1 bigha in square feet and 1 katha in square feet

These are customary units, so the definition depends on where you are. In the pucca system used across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, 1 bigha in square feet is 27,225 and 1 katha in square feet is 1,361.25, with 20 katha to a bigha. Bengal uses 14,400 sq ft for a bigha and 720 sq ft for a katha; Assam uses 2,880 sq ft per katha.

Regional land units converted to square feet
Unit	Square feet	Square metres
1 katha (Bihar/UP)	1,361.25	126.46
1 katha (Bengal)	720	66.89
1 bigha (pucca)	27,225	2,529.29
1 bigha (Bengal)	14,400	1,337.80
1 decimal / cent	435.6	40.47
1 kanal	5,445	505.86
1 guntha	1,089	101.17
1 gaj (sq yard)	9	0.836

Each unit has its own page: bigha to square feet, katha to square feet, decimal to square feet, kanal to square feet, guntha to square feet, cent to square feet, gaj to square feet and marla to square feet.