Also known as dismil
Plot sizes and land records in eastern India are routinely stated in decimals: a house plot of “3 decimal”, a farm of “50 dismil”. Land records in these states also use bigha and katha, so one transaction can mix units — a seller says katha, the record says decimal, and the bank wants square feet.
Because it is defined as 1/100 acre, a decimal is fixed: 435.6 sq ft, 48.4 square yards or about 40.5 square metres. One hundred decimals make an acre, and about 247.1 decimals make a hectare. A decimal and a cent are the same measure under different names, so a Kerala buyer’s “cent” and a Kolkata seller’s “decimal” describe the same area.
Example
A 4 decimal plot in Patna
A plot is listed as 4 decimal at ₹12 lakh per decimal. That is 4 × 435.6 = 1,742.4 sq ft, and the total ask of ₹48 lakh works out to about ₹2,755 per sq ft — the figure a buyer needs to compare it with a flat. The prices are illustrative.
Figures are illustrative, not market rates.
Across India
- The decimal itself does not vary: it is 1/100 acre everywhere. The bigha and katha it is compared with do vary by state and district, so a “decimals per katha” figure is local.
Questions about Decimal (dismil)
Is a decimal the same as a cent?
Yes. Both are one hundredth of an acre, 435.6 sq ft. Eastern states say decimal or dismil, while Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh say cent. The conversion between them is one to one.
How many decimals are in a katha?
It depends on the state, because the katha varies. In West Bengal a katha of 720 sq ft is about 1.65 decimals; in Bihar the katha is different again. Convert the katha to square feet first, then divide by 435.6.
Sources
See also
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