Landowners · Valuation · The Propah POV
What is my Bengaluru land worth to a developer?
Not what the neighbour got, and not the guidance value. A developer values land as a residual: what the finished project will sell for, minus construction, approvals, marketing, finance and their required margin. What is left is what they can pay for your land. The single input that moves it most is how much can be built — which is decided by your road width, not your location.
Three different numbers, and only one is an offer
| What it is | What it is not | |
|---|---|---|
| Guidance value | The state’s minimum for calculating stamp duty | A valuation. It is a floor for taxation, set administratively. |
| Market value | What comparable plots have changed hands for | What a developer will pay. Comparables price land as land. |
| Development value | What the land is worth as the site of a project | Available to every plot. It exists only where a project is viable. |
Most landowners negotiate off the first two and are surprised by the third — in both directions. A well-positioned plot can be worth a multiple of its market value to a developer. A badly positioned one can be worth less, because the developer is buying a problem. Guidance value and what its revision actually costs you is a separate question and worth understanding on its own.
How a developer actually gets to a number
They work backwards. Nobody in a development company starts from a rate per acre.
The residual method, in four steps
- 1. How much can be built? Plot area multiplied by the permissible FAR, less what is lost to setbacks, circulation and common areas. This gives saleable area.
- 2. What will it sell for? Saleable area multiplied by an achievable rate for that micro-market and that specification — not the aspirational rate, the achievable one. This is gross development value.
- 3. What will it cost? Construction, approvals and premiums, statutory charges, marketing and sales commission, and finance across the whole build period.
- 4. What margin do they need? Set by their cost of capital and their risk view on the micro-market.
Land value is whatever is left. Every argument you have about price is really an argument about one of these four inputs.
Two plots on the same road, the same size, the same guidance value. One is worth far more, because a wider road means more floors.
Real numbers you can check
Listed developers disclose the revenue potential of land they buy, which gives you public reference points for the top line of the arithmetic.
| Disclosed acquisition | Size | Stated revenue potential |
|---|---|---|
| Godrej Properties, near Sarjapur Road (Oct 2025) | 26 acres | ₹1,100 crore — roughly ₹42 crore of GDV per acre |
| Puravankara, Attibele, Anekal taluk (Dec 2025) | 53.5 acres, 6.4 million sq ft | ₹4,800+ crore — roughly ₹90 crore of GDV per acre |
Two things are worth taking from that table. The Puravankara parcel implies roughly 120,000 sq ft of developable area per acre and a blended realisation of about ₹7,500 per sq ft — useful shape for the arithmetic. And the gap between ₹42 crore and ₹90 crore of GDV per acre, on two Bengaluru parcels bought two months apart, is the clearest possible evidence that a per-acre rate carries almost no information on its own.
Neither company disclosed what it paid for the land, and no credible published benchmark exists for land cost as a share of GDV in Indian residential development. We are not going to invent one. What you can do is ask a developer for their assumed realisation and developable area, and check them against numbers like these.
FAR: the input that decides everything else
Floor area ratio decides how much building your plot can carry, and therefore how much revenue it can generate. In Bengaluru, base residential FAR is commonly published in the range of roughly 1.25 to 3.25, varying with zone, plot size and — critically — the width of the road your plot fronts.
Karnataka notified a premium FAR policy on 21 February 2025 (UDD 78 MNJ 2024), allowing developers to buy additional FAR from the authority. As published:
- Additional FAR tiered by road width, commonly cited as up to 20% for roads of about 9–12 m, 40% for 12–18 m and up to 60% above 18 m.
- A minimum road frontage of 9 metres to qualify at all.
- Premium FAR capped at 40% of total permissible FAR, with a further 20% available through TDR.
- The premium charged is a percentage of guidance value per square metre — published figures start around 28% and reach roughly 50% on wider roads.
Where we will not give you false precision
- Published FAR tables conflict with one another, and some circulating tables are KIADB industrial figures being quoted as though they were residential.
- The Revised Master Plan position on premium FAR has been the subject of further proposals since the 2025 notification.
- Your permissible FAR is a question for the sanctioning authority for your specific survey number and zone. Take it from them, or from an architect who will put their name to it. A number from a blog — including this one — is not a basis for a negotiation.
What moves your number more than location does
- Road width. It sets base FAR, it sets premium FAR eligibility, and it can decide whether a project is viable at all. Two identical plots on different roads are not comparable assets.
- Title. A clean thirty-year chain, a current encumbrance certificate and a valid e-Khata are not paperwork — they are price. A developer discounts for every unresolved question, and discounts heavily for anything that could stall a RERA registration.
- Conversion. Agricultural land needs DC conversion before it can be developed. Unconverted land is valued net of that cost, that delay and that risk.
- Shape and frontage. A regular plot with good frontage yields more saleable area from the same square footage. Odd geometry is paid for by the seller, not the buyer.
- Aggregation. If your plot completes a larger parcel, it is worth more to that specific developer than to any other. If it is the one holdout, it is worth a great deal more — and this is knowable before you negotiate.
- Encumbrances and tenants. Anything that delays vacant possession is priced in at the developer’s cost of capital, compounded over the delay.
Before you take an offer
- Establish permissible FAR first. You cannot evaluate an offer without knowing the size of what is being bought. Most landowners negotiate this blind, and developers know it.
- Ask for the assumptions, not the number. Developable area, assumed realisation per sq ft, assumed construction cost. A developer confident in their offer will share them. One who will not is telling you something.
- Get a second quote. The spread between two developers on the same parcel is routinely wide, because their cost of capital, land bank and view of the micro-market differ.
- Compare outright sale against joint development. They are different risk and tax positions, not just different prices — area share, revenue share and section 45(5A) change the arithmetic materially.
- Do not sign a power of attorney to establish good faith. It is the single most expensive document a landowner signs, and it is usually signed early and casually.
- Have your own advocate. The developer’s lawyer producing “a standard document” is not a neutral service.
What this does not cover
- The acquisition figures cited are the acquirers’ own disclosed revenue potential, not independently verified, and not land prices. Neither company disclosed what it paid.
- Per-acre GDV implied from those deals is arithmetic on disclosed figures, offered as shape rather than as a valuation input for any other parcel.
- FAR figures are as commonly published and conflict between sources. Confirm with the sanctioning authority for your survey number.
- No land-cost-to-GDV benchmark is given because we found no credible published Indian source.
- This is general information, not a valuation. A valuation requires your survey number, your zoning, your title and a site visit.
How do developers value land in Bangalore?
By the residual method, working backwards. They establish how much can be built from plot area and permissible FAR, multiply the resulting saleable area by an achievable rate for that micro-market to get gross development value, subtract construction, approvals, marketing, finance and their required margin, and what remains is what they can pay for the land. Nobody starts from a rate per acre. Every negotiation you have is really about one of those four inputs.
Is guidance value the same as market value in Karnataka?
No. Guidance value is the state's minimum rate for calculating stamp duty and registration — an administrative floor for taxation, not a valuation. Market value is what comparable plots actually change hands for. Development value — what the land is worth as the site of a project — is a third number again, and can be far above or below the other two depending on what can be built. A plot is not worth its guidance value simply because that is what the state says.
What is the FAR for residential land in Bengaluru?
Base residential FAR is commonly published in the range of roughly 1.25 to 3.25, varying with zone, plot size and the width of the road the plot fronts. Karnataka's premium FAR policy notified on 21 February 2025 allows additional FAR to be purchased from the authority, tiered by road width, subject to a minimum 9 metre frontage and capped at 40% of permissible FAR with a further 20% available through TDR. Published tables conflict, and some circulating figures are industrial rather than residential — take your number from the sanctioning authority for your survey number.
Why is road width so important to land value?
Because it decides how much can be built. Road width sets base FAR, determines eligibility for premium FAR, and on narrow roads can make a project unviable altogether. Two identical plots of the same size and the same guidance value, one fronting a 12 metre road and one fronting a 20 metre road, are not comparable assets to a developer — the second can carry substantially more saleable area and therefore substantially more revenue from the same land.
Should I sell my land outright or do a joint development?
They are different risk and tax positions, not just different prices. An outright sale gives you certainty and a capital gains charge in the year of transfer. A joint development gives you a share of the finished project and, for individuals and HUFs holding land as a capital asset, defers the capital gains charge to the year the completion certificate is issued under section 45(5A) — a deferral an all-cash sale gives up entirely. Model both on your own plot before deciding.
What documents affect the price a developer will pay?
A clean thirty-year title chain, a current encumbrance certificate, a valid e-Khata, and DC conversion where the land is agricultural. These are not administrative formalities — a developer discounts for every unresolved question and discounts heavily for anything that could delay a RERA registration or vacant possession, because delay costs them at their cost of capital compounded across the build period. Resolving title before you negotiate is usually the cheapest money a landowner spends.
How much does an acre of land in Bangalore sell for?
There is no useful single answer, and per-acre rates from other deals are the weakest possible guide. Two disclosed Bengaluru acquisitions two months apart illustrate the spread: Godrej Properties reported roughly ₹42 crore of revenue potential per acre on a 26-acre parcel near Sarjapur Road, while Puravankara reported roughly ₹90 crore per acre on 53.5 acres at Attibele. Those are the acquirers' own revenue potential figures, not land prices — but the gap shows why what your neighbour got tells you very little about your own plot.
What should I ask a developer who has made me an offer?
For the assumptions behind it rather than the number itself: what developable area they have assumed, what realisation per square foot, and what construction cost. A developer confident in their offer will share them, and it lets you check the arithmetic against public reference points. Then get a second developer to quote — spreads on the same parcel are routinely wide because cost of capital, existing land bank and micro-market view all differ. And establish your permissible FAR independently before either conversation.
Bengaluru base FAR ranges, the Karnataka premium FAR notification of 21 February 2025 (UDD 78 MNJ 2024), road-width tiers, the 40% premium FAR cap and 20% TDR allowance, and premium charges as a percentage of guidance value checked across published guidance in September 2026; published tables conflict and are flagged as such. Land acquisition figures are the acquirers’ own disclosed revenue potential as reported in December 2025 and October 2025, not land prices and not independently verified. No land-cost-to-GDV benchmark is cited because no credible published Indian source was found. This is general information, not a valuation.
Still deciding, or want this applied to your own situation?
Tell us where you are and we will come back to you. The first conversation is free, and we will tell you plainly if we are not the right people for it.
Next
Know the FAR before you discuss the price.
A landowner who does not know what can be built on their land is negotiating against someone who does. That asymmetry is worth more to the developer than any argument about rate per acre.
Ask an Advisor