Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development in-charge D.K. Shivakumar unveiled the “sixth guarantee” — Bhu Guarantee — of the Congress government in Karnataka.

The major announcements made on May 13 included a reduction in the percentage of the guidance value that needs to be paid as a fee for conversion from B-Khata to A-Khata, regularisation of “illegal” buildings constructed on BDA lands before 2008, and notification of setback relaxations.

However, the guarantee repackages existing schemes with discounts on the fees, especially for those that did not meet the desired outcome. Incidentally, it comes close on the heels of discussions on holding the long-pending civic elections in Bengaluru this year.

Under the scheme for conversion of B-Khata into A-Khata within the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) limits, which was introduced in November 2025, the government has now announced a discount of nearly 60%. This means citizens will now have to pay only 2% of the guidance value of the particular area.

The discounted rate will be available from May 16 for a period of 100 days, after which citizens will once again have to pay a 5% guidance value fee for conversion.

When the scheme was first introduced, Mr. Shivakumar had stated that 5% of the guidance value of the area would be collected as a fee and used for the development of the respective locality. However, in the last five months, a meagre 7,000 applications have been received, accounting for just 1% of the total estimated properties.

According to official data, Bengaluru has around 23 lakh properties, of which 16 lakh are A-Khata properties and seven lakh are B-Khata properties.

The primary reason for the poor response from beneficiaries is the high conversion cost, as 5% of the guidance value often translates into fees running into lakhs of rupees.

Regularisation scheme

In addition, for properties constructed on Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) land before 2008, the government plans to reduce the regularisation cost by 50%. For instance, if a property owner earlier had to pay 5% of the guidance value for regularisation, they can now pay just 2.5% and get the property regularised. Bengaluru has nearly one lakh such properties.

“In 2020, the BJP government introduced a law called ‘38D’. Only 570 people had submitted applications under the scheme. The law provided for payment of charges based on the guidance value—10% for plots measuring 200 to 600 sq ft, 25% for 600 to 900 sq ft, 40% for 1,200 to 2,400 sq ft, and 50% for 2,400 to 4,000 sq ft,” Mr. Shivakumar said.

At the time, applicants were given six months to apply. However, hardly anyone came forward to pay the fee. According to Mr. Shivakumar, the charges were considered too high and the scheme failed to benefit people.

“Now, applicants will be given a total of three months from June 15 to submit applications. A One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme will also be implemented. The first 100 days will be provided for the submission of applications, the next 100 days for the scrutiny of applications, and thereafter time will be given for payment. The scheme will be concluded within a one-year timeframe, that is, by June 2027,” he said.

“If people fail to make use of the benefits under this scheme, legal action will have to be initiated. Already, BDA has taken possession of properties worth ₹2,000 crore,” he warned.

Setback relaxation

Earlier this year, the Urban Development Department (UDD) had issued a draft notification proposing amendments to the Town Planning Act. The draft notification allowed regularisation of setback violations of up to 15%. Confirming the notification, Mr. Shivakumar said that the government would permit the 15% relaxation.

Defending the move, Mr. Shivakumar said that the law provides for relaxation of up to 50%, but the government has limited it to only 15%.