What is change of land use (CLU)?
Also called: CLU, CLU permission, land use change, CLU certificate
Change of land use (CLU) is government permission to use land for something other than the use fixed for it in the master plan or land records, typically agricultural to residential or commercial.
Every notified city has a master plan that zones land as residential, commercial, industrial, green belt or agricultural. You can't legally put up group housing on a patch marked agricultural or reserved for a school. CLU is the route by which a landowner gets permission to depart from that, and the fees make it a steady revenue source for states.
It gets confused with land conversion, and in many states they're separate steps. Haryana grants CLU through the DTCP for sites in controlled areas and along scheduled roads; a lot of the petrol pumps, schools and hotels along its highways were built on such permissions. In UP, the old Section 143 declaration under the Zamindari Abolition Act, now Section 80 of the UP Revenue Code, 2006, declares agricultural land fit for non-agricultural use. Maharashtra calls it NA permission under its Land Revenue Code, and Karnataka calls it conversion under Section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964. Even with that order, the master plan still has to allow the use.
For buyers the risk is plain. Farmhouse and "weekend villa" projects on city edges are sometimes sold before any CLU or conversion exists. If the permission is refused, or the land turns out to sit in a green belt, construction can be sealed and banks won't lend.
Ask for the CLU or conversion order, its date and its conditions, and check that the khasra or survey numbers on it match your sale deed. CLU permissions often require construction to start within a fixed period, and a lapsed one is worth very little.
A "farm villa" project off the Sohna road sells 1,000 sq yd plots at ₹60 lakh each, backed only by sale deeds for agricultural land. Without a DTCP CLU or licence, the buyer is buying farmland with a promise attached.
Accepting a conversion order that covers a different survey number, or only part of the land being sold.
Questions people ask about change of land use (CLU)
Is CLU the same as NA conversion?
Not quite. CLU changes the use fixed in a master or development plan, while NA conversion changes the revenue classification of agricultural land. Some states fold both into one order, others need two.
Who grants CLU in Haryana?
The Director, Town and Country Planning, Haryana. The permission lists the khasra numbers, the permitted use and conditions such as the time allowed to complete construction.