Gaj to Square Feet: Indian Land Units Without the Confusion
A gaj is simply a square yard: 9 square feet. The trouble starts with bigha, katha and biswa, which change size from state to state.
22 September 2026 · 7 min read · Property
Property in India is advertised in whichever unit the local market grew up with. A plot in Delhi is quoted in gaj, in Ahmedabad in var, in Hyderabad in ankanam, in Chennai in ground, in Kerala in cent, and across Punjab and Haryana in marla and kanal.
Most of them are fixed and easy. A few are not, and those are the ones that cost people money.
The fixed ones
These have the same value everywhere they are used, because they are defined in square feet or square yards.
| Unit | Square feet | Square metres | Mostly used in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaj (square yard) | 9 | 0.836 | Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan |
| Var | 9 | 0.836 | Gujarat |
| Gajam | 9 | 0.836 | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana |
| Ankanam | 72 | 6.689 | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka |
| Cent (decimal, dismil) | 435.6 | 40.47 | Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar |
| Guntha | 1,089 | 101.17 | Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka |
| Ground | 2,400 | 222.97 | Chennai |
| Marla | 272.25 | 25.29 | Punjab, Haryana, Pakistan |
| Kanal | 5,445 | 505.86 | Punjab, Haryana, Pakistan |
| Acre (killa) | 43,560 | 4,046.86 | Everywhere, in official records |
Gaj, var and gajam are all just the square yard under different names. If a broker quotes 150 gaj, that is 1,350 sq ft, or about 125 m².
The relationships worth memorising
- 1 gaj = 9 sq ft, so multiply gaj by 9.
- 1 ankanam = 8 gaj = 72 sq ft.
- 100 cent = 1 acre, so a cent is one hundredth of an acre.
- 40 guntha = 1 acre.
- 20 marla = 1 kanal, and 8 kanal = 1 acre.
The ones that change by state
Bigha has no national value. In Punjab, Haryana and Himachal the pucca bigha is 27,225 sq ft, five eighths of an acre. In parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam it is smaller, sometimes around a third of an acre, and several districts also use a smaller kachha bigha.
Katha and biswa are fractions of a bigha, usually a twentieth, so they inherit exactly the same regional variation. Our converter uses the north-western pucca value of 1,361.25 sq ft.
Chatak likewise differs between Bengal and other regions, which is why we do not offer a single figure for it.
The rule to follow: for any of these, get the figure in square feet from the registered document, not from a conversion done on a name alone.
Carpet, built-up and super built-up
Converting units correctly does not help if two numbers are measuring different things. For flats:
- Carpet area is the usable floor inside the walls.
- Built-up area adds the walls and balconies, typically 10–15% more.
- Super built-up area adds a share of lifts, lobbies and corridors, often 25–35% more than carpet.
Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, developers must disclose carpet area. When comparing two flats, compare carpet with carpet, then convert.
Worked example
A plot is advertised as 200 gaj at ₹45,000 per gaj.
- Area: 200 × 9 = 1,800 sq ft, or 167.2 m².
- In cents: 1,800 ÷ 435.6 = 4.13 cent.
- Price: 200 × 45,000 = ₹90,00,000, which is ₹90 lakh, or ₹5,000 per sq ft.
That last step is the one to always do. Price per square foot is the only figure that compares cleanly between cities using different units.
Related conversions
This article is for general information. Please verify figures against the relevant standard before using them in critical work. About accuracy