Bihar Cabinet Partially Relaxes Land Transaction Ban Across All 11 Township Zones

What the Cabinet Decided

In a major development, the Bihar state cabinet on June 17, 2026 approved a proposal to partially relax the land transaction ban across all 11 Greenfield Satellite Township zones, including Patliputra Satellite Township, Patna. The cabinet approved a proposal authorising the Bihar State Housing Board to purchase land under the Bihar Raiyati Land Purchase Policy 2026, which has been notified by the Revenue and Land Reforms Department, in view of restrictions on the sale, purchase and transfer of land in areas earmarked for Greenfield Satellite Townships. Officials said the Housing Board will be able to purchase land from raiyats, while designated government authorities will be empowered to acquire land for public schemes and to purchase or lease land for projects approved by the State Investment Promotion Board.

Background: How the Ban Began

The state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, had on April 22, 2026 decided the names of the 11 townships that will be developed apart from specifying their core area and special area: Patna as Patliputra, Sonepur as Hariharnathpur, Gayaji as Magadh, Darbhanga as Mithila, Munger as Ang, Purnea as Purnea, Saharsa as Koshi, Chhapra as Saran, Bhagalpur as Vikramsheela, Muzaffarpur as Tirhut and Sitamarhi as Sitapuram. A freeze on the sale, purchase and transfer of land, development, and construction of buildings in the proposed satellite township areas was put in place — till March 31, 2027 in seven townships, and till June 30, 2027 in four townships. Officials made it clear that the ban could be lifted earlier if the Master Plan for a given township was prepared sooner. This April 2026 freeze is the ban that the 17 June 2026 cabinet decision has now partially relaxed.

The Two Approved Sale Channels

Under the new Bihar Raiyat Land Purchase Policy-2026, landowners in the designated area can now sell their land through two regulated channels: direct sale to the Bihar State Housing Board (BSHB), eligible in cases of financial emergencies, or sale/lease for SIPB-approved investment projects covering government-sanctioned industrial or commercial developments. The government said the measure is expected to help landowners meet immediate financial needs while ensuring the availability of land for infrastructure, housing and investment projects.

General private land-to-land transactions between individuals remain restricted until the master plan is officially approved (targeted March 2027).

Compensation Terms Under Policy-2026

Under the policy, compensation for land in urban areas is twice the market price or Minimum Value Register (MVR) rate, whichever is higher, while in rural areas it is four times the market rate or MVR, whichever is higher. An additional 10 per cent is paid as an 'encouragement amount', and land acquired by the government is free of stamp duty and registration fee. Township-specific marketing pages describe the same terms alongside a 7-day Standard Operating Procedure that ensures preliminary scrutiny within 7 days of application for BSHB purchase requests — though this SOP detail has not been independently confirmed in the cabinet's own press briefings and should be verified with UDHD/BSHB before relying on it.

What Still Remains Restricted

Eligible landowners can sell land to the Bihar State Housing Board under the policy, and the government can subsequently lease or transfer acquired land for qualifying SIPB-approved investment projects — but private buyers should confirm whether a specific transaction is legally registrable before treating the announcement as a complete reopening of the market. Relaxation of transaction restrictions does not automatically grant building permission: a registered sale deed confirms a transaction but does not independently prove that the buyer can construct on the land.

The 11 Townships Covered by This Decision

These identities were assigned by the Urban Development and Housing Department when the cabinet finalised the township list in April 2026.

Practical Effect

For a landowner inside a notified township zone, this decision means an urgent-need sale is now possible through BSHB, but a routine private sale to a neighbour, developer, or investor outside the SIPB route is still not registrable. The decision was taken in view of restrictions on the sale, purchase and transfer of land in areas earmarked for Greenfield Satellite Townships, and the new arrangement is intended to provide an alternative mechanism for acquiring land required for housing and urban development projects. The government has not yet disclosed the extent of land likely to be acquired under the policy or the specific township projects that may benefit from the arrangement. For the largest of the 11 zones, the proposed Pataliputra Township will cover around 81,730 acres under its 'special zone', with an additional 1,010 acres identified as the core development area, located in the Punpun–Fatuha belt on the outskirts of Patna.