In Indian real estate, land is both the starting point and the biggest bottleneck. Whether you’re planning a luxury tower, a township, or a redevelopment project, the journey begins with identifying the right parcel—and more often than not, it’s a complex and frustrating one.
The days when land deals were just about location and price are long gone. Today, developers face a blend of regulatory grey zones, fragmented ownership, unclear FSI potential, and unpredictable approval cycles. Add rising land costs and shifting urban policy into the mix, and it becomes clear: land acquisition has never been more challenging.
Let’s break down the top 5 challenges developers face when acquiring land today—and what can help simplify go/no-go decisions early in the process.
Below are the Land Acquisition Challenges:
1. Unclear Title and Legal Encumbrances
Why it’s a problem:
Across urban and peri-urban India, many land parcels have messy ownership histories—missing succession records, disputed boundaries, or overlapping claims from family members, institutions, or tenants.
What it leads to:
- Delays in legal due diligence
- Difficulty in securing finance or approvals
- Higher litigation risk post-acquisition
How to manage it:
- Conduct professional title searches and encumbrance checks before initiating any MoU
- Consider tech-enabled land record platforms for preliminary verification
- Avoid verbal commitments without legal vetting
2. Uncertainty in Zoning and FSI Potential
Why it’s a problem:
Just because a parcel looks “developable” on paper doesn’t mean it is. Zoning maps, DCPR interpretations, and DP reservations can all restrict what can be constructed. Developers often assume a standard FSI, only to later discover heritage restrictions, public amenity reservations, or green buffer zones.
What it leads to:
- Overestimated sale area in feasibility
- Project redesigns or rejection at IOD/CC stage
- Costly premium recalculations
How to manage it:
Use feasibility tools like LandWise by Archonet to:
- Identify actual permissible FSI based on road width, location, and DCPR regulations
- Flag applicable schemes (e.g., 33(7B), 33(20B), 33(9), etc.)
- Model basic financial feasibility before you commit resources
3. Fragmented Ownership and Consent Complexities
Why it’s a problem:
In cities like Mumbai, land parcels are often co-owned by multiple individuals, groups, or societies. In redevelopment scenarios, 70–90% consent is required, and aligning expectations around corpus, rental, timelines, and brand trust is difficult.
What it leads to:
- Delayed MoUs or development rights agreements
- Legal complications during conveyance or revalidation
- Stalled execution despite intent
How to manage it:
- Engage early with society committees or landlord families through clear and transparent communication
- Prepare standardized consent templates and educate stakeholders about redevelopment benefits
- Secure key member buy-in before investing in design or legal paperwork
4. Rising Land Costs vs. Feasibility Reality
Why it’s a problem:
Landowners often peg their expectations to recent market transactions without factoring in actual developability. What’s worse, developers sometimes commit based on optimistic FSI assumptions without a regulatory breakdown.
What it leads to:
- Overpayment relative to saleable potential
- Reduced margin on sale flats
- Missed ROI benchmarks
How to manage it:
- Instead of just ₹/sq.ft. pricing, assess plots by ₹/FSI rate
- Use tools like LandWise to estimate how much BUA is really possible, and then calculate the land cost affordability
- Create two feasibility versions: optimistic and regulatory conservative
5. Approval Uncertainty and Policy Volatility
Why it’s a problem:
Even after acquiring land, the real wait begins. Policy amendments, changes in premium calculations, environment NOCs, or new building rules can emerge overnight. Between IOD, CC, TDR transfer, fungible approvals, and compliance milestones, each delay adds cost.
What it leads to:
- Holding cost pressure
- Delayed launch → slower cashflow → investor stress
- Requirement to rework plan or product mid-cycle
How to manage it:
- Stay updated through urban policy bulletins, DCPR amendments, and local GRs
- Build in regulatory buffers and flexible payment terms in land deals
- Plan phase-wise launches to mitigate exposure
Before You Acquire, Evaluate
Land will always be the most precious asset in real estate—but the cost of a bad land decision is higher than ever.
At Archonet, we don’t source land—but we help you evaluate it better.
Our LandWise tool helps developers, BD teams, and investment officers:
- Calculate how much FSI is truly permissible
- Understand which DCPR 2034 schemes apply
- Get a quick financial summary to assess if a deal makes sense
So before you enter a negotiation or commit to an MoU, use LandWise to make a smart, informed go/no-go call.
Explore LandWise by Archonet.
Know what’s possible before you buy.