BENGALURU: The Congress-led state government’s sixth guarantee scheme, ‘Bhoo Guarantee’, aimed at enabling B khata property holders to convert their properties to A khata in the five city corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), has received a tepid response, with only 5.54% of B khata holders applying for the conversion despite a big fee concession.
Of the 8,49,975 B khata properties in Bengaluru, a mere 47,088 have applied (as of August 14) for conversion, with only 24,965 applications having been approved. Under the scheme, the government has generated Rs 311.77 crore in revenue, while the expectation was up to Rs 10,000 crore as estimated by civic experts.
The scheme that offers a concession in the conversion fee, down from 5% to 2% of the guidance value, closed on Sunday with no official announcement of an extension. GBA sources said there was a last-minute surge in applications, taking the total to around 75,000. But even that would account for only about 8.82% of the identified 8.49 lakh B khata properties.
After receiving limited response to the scheme announced in 2025, the GBA rebranded it as ‘Bhoo Guarantee’ in May with hopes of generating thousands of crores in revenue. But that is not to be.
Even discounted fees high, say property owners
As per the data shared by Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda in the Legislative Council, while responding to a question raised by MLC Chidanand M Gowda, of the 47,088 applications submitted, 24,965 have been approved, with 19,075 awaiting approval and 3,048 applications rejected.
Bengaluru North City Corporation topped the list with 4,615 applications, generating Rs 84.38 crore, followed by Bengaluru West City Corporation with 4,550 applications generating Rs 84.15 crore. Bengaluru South City Corporation and East City Corporation generated more than Rs 70 crore each. Bengaluru Central City Corporation had the lowest number of applications at just 54, generating Rs 1.27 crore.
Some property owners said that even after the concession, regularisation charges ran into lakhs, making it difficult for them to arrange the money. They also said they did not see any immediate benefit in the khata conversion. The tepid response indicates that the fee concession alone appears to have failed to create sufficient incentive for B khata holders to regularise their properties.