Two maps, two meanings for one colour
Bhubaneswar's Comprehensive Development Plan was published on 6 April 2010 (Orissa High Court, Prabal Ranjan Nayak v. BDA, 2023) and is drawn for 2030. It colours the land on two maps. The land-use map (Map No. 2) puts every plot in a use zone, and the use zone decides what may be built on it. The broad development zones map (Map No. 13.1) sorts the planning zones, numbered 12 to 25, into four kinds of growth: Extensive, Intensive, Restricted and Sensitive Development Zones. The same colour means different things on the two: yellow is the Residential Use Zone on the first and an Extensive Development Zone on the second.
The use zone is the one that governs building. Since 15 November 2025 the use zones of every development area "shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions contained in Table No. 3A and 3B", and each authority's own zoning regulations "shall stand superseded" (Rule 27(1), Odisha Development Authorities (Planning and Building Standards) Third Amendment Rules, 2025). When a seller says a plot is "in the yellow zone", ask for its use zone's code (R, A-1, ES and so on) as the land-use map prints it.
The colours on Bhubaneswar's land-use map
| Colour on the map | Code | Use zone |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | R | Residential Use Zone |
| Blue | C-1 | Retail Commercial & Business Use Zone |
| Blue, hatched | C-2 | Wholesale Commercial Use Zone |
| Purple | I | Industrial Use Zone |
| Red | PS | Public & Semi-public Use Zone |
| Brown | US | Utility & Services Use Zone |
| Yellow-green | OS | Open Space Use Zone |
| Pale green | A-1 | Agricultural |
| Dark green | A-2 | Forest |
| Sky blue | W-1 | Rivers, Canals & Streams |
| Aqua | W-2 | Ponds, Lakes & Lagoons |
| Cream | SH | Protected Monuments & Precincts |
| Gold | SH-R | Residential within Special Heritage Zone |
| Slate blue | SH-C | Commercial within Special Heritage Zone |
| Orange | SH-PS | Public & Semi-public within Special Heritage Zone |
| Light orange | ES | Environmentally Sensitive Zone |
| Grey | T-1 | Road |
The codes and names are the map's own legend, two misspellings corrected (CDP Map No. 2); the first column is how the map shows each zone.
Yellow zone: the Residential Use Zone
"Yellow zone" is how people in Bhubaneswar name the Residential Use Zone: parties before the Orissa High Court described land "coming under yellow zone meant for only residential purpose" (Geetanjali Mahapatra v. State of Orissa, 2023).
Since 15 November 2025 the zone is governed by a list of what is not allowed, and "all activities that are not included in the said negative list shall be deemed to be permitted" (Rule 27A(3), Third Amendment Rules, 2025). A house is not on the list. What is on it: "All types of Wholesale Commercial activities", "All industries except household industries and printing presses employing upto 10 persons", and shops larger than the road allows, from "For roads of 6 metres width, the carpet area shall not exceed 10 sq. m." up to "For roads of 30 metres width and above, no restriction shall apply on Retail Commercial use/activity" (Table No. 3A, row 1).
A house still needs permission. No one may "institute or change the use of any land or building or undertake or carry out any development in any building or in or over any land without obtaining permission in writing from the concerned Authority" (Section 15(1)(ii), Odisha Development Authorities Act, 1982), and a building plan is refused "if the use to which the site is proposed to be put does not conform to the Land Use Zones as earmarked in the Development Plan" (Rule 28(iii), ODA (Planning and Building Standards) Rules, 2020).
On the broad development zones map, yellow marks the Extensive Development Zones: Chandrasekharpur (zone 13), East Kuakhai (15), Aigania (20), Tamando (21) and Gangapada (22) (Map No. 13.1). That is the other "yellow zone", covered below under where the plan puts new housing.
Green zone: agriculture, forest and open space
Three zones are green on the land-use map. The Agricultural zone (A-1, pale green) and the Forest zone (A-2, dark green) make up the Agricultural and Forest Use Zone, whose rules were last replaced on 30 June 2026 (Table No. 3B, row 4, Odisha Development Authorities (Planning and Building Standards) Amendment Rules, 2026):
- Permitted: farming and horticulture, parks, dairy and poultry, the storage, processing and sale of farm produce, agro-business, "Dwelling for the people engaged in the farm(rural settlement)", "Farm houses and accessory buildings", "Country Homes" and afforestation.
- Only on the recommendation of the Authority's DP and BP Committee: "Houses incidental to this use", "Normal expansion of land uses only in the existing homestead land", godowns, brick kilns and the other uses the table lists.
- Prohibited: "Use/activity not compatible to the land use", heavy and hazardous industries, and "For notified forest lands, only afforestation is permitted."
A farm house needs a plot of at least one hectare (Rule 68(1), ODA (Planning and Building Standards) Rules, 2020), and for a country home the "minimum size of plot shall not be less than 2000 square meters", in a project of "at least 10 acres" (Rule 69(1)). Dividing agricultural-zone land into house plots is barred: "Sub-division of land for residential purpose in Agricultural zone shall not be permitted unless such sub-division in the opinion of the Authority forms a part of the normal expansion of existing human habitation" (Rule 80(2)).
The Open Space zone (OS, yellow-green) is for parks and playgrounds: its permitted uses begin with "Specialized parks/maidans for multipurpose use" and include "Regional parks, district parks, playgrounds, children's parks" and "Green belts" (Table No. 3B, row 2, Third Amendment Rules, 2025).
A change may be coming. A draft published on 31 August 2026 lists, for an "Agriculture & Allied Use Zone", "All types of Residential use, except ancillary to Agriculture use" among the activities not allowed (draft Second Amendment Rules, 2026). It was a draft when we read it: ask the Authority whether it is in force before you buy green-zone land.
Sensitive zones in Bhubaneswar
"Sensitive zone" is used for four different things, so ask which one is meant.
The Environmentally Sensitive zone (ES). It is light orange on the land-use map: "The vast stretch of low lying flood prone areas along the eastern periphery at Sribantapur and Sisupalagarh has been identified as an ecologically sensitive zone with limited development mainly for recreation, tourism and cultural activities, as well as, agro-based industries" (CDP executive summary). There "Plotted Housing" and "Small industries or small institutions" are prohibited (Table No. 3B, row 7, Amendment Rules, 2026). A building needs a site of at least 4,000 square metres and a 12 metre approach road, and a layout a site "more than 2 Ha" (Rule 27A(10) and (11), Third Amendment Rules, 2025). The Orissa High Court refused to interfere with an order against a house built there without plan approval: "the land comes under environmental sensitive zone and, as such, individual housing construction is not permissible as per law" (Deepankar Swain v. State of Odisha, 2023).
The Sensitive Development Zones. On the broad development zones map, green marks five planning zones: Bharatpur (zone 12), Sribantapur (14), Sisupal (16), Dhauli (19) and Barunei (24) (Map No. 13.1). They are planning zones, not use zones: what may be built on a plot inside one still depends on its use zone on the land-use map (Rule 27(1), Third Amendment Rules, 2025).
Near a protected monument. "No construction or re-construction of any building shall be permitted within a distance of 100 meters in all directions" from the outer boundary of a protected monument. From 100 to 300 metres of a Centrally protected monument the rule bars building too, and near a State-protected one it allows "no construction above 1st floor and above a height of 7 (seven) meters"; in these bands building is allowed "only on production of clearance certificate from the Authority concerned" (Rule 20, ODA (Planning and Building Standards) Rules, 2020). The plan names six special heritage areas: Ekamra Kshetra (zone 18), Sisupalagarh (16), Dhauli (19), Udayagiri and Khandagiri (20), Khurda Fort and Barunei (24) and Jatani (25) (CDP executive summary). In a Special Heritage Zone "the maximum height of the building shall not exceed 15 meters" (Rule 27A(9), Third Amendment Rules, 2025).
Eco-sensitive zones, the airport and the Capital's buildings. A building plan needs a no objection certificate "where the land is located within Eco-Sensitive Zone notified by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change", and one from the Airports Authority of India "as per the Colour Coded Zoning Map (CCZM)" where it applies (Rule 5(3)(iv) and (vi), ODA (Planning and Building Standards) Rules, 2020). In the Bhubaneswar Development Authority's area "no building exceeding 10 meters height shall be permitted without clearance from Commissioner of Police within 200 meters radius" of the Governor's House, the Secretariat, the Legislative Assembly and the Chief Minister's residence (Rule 21).
Red zone and blue zone
Red on the land-use map is the Public & Semi-public Use Zone (PS), land for public and institutional use. Since 15 November 2025 it too is governed by a list of what is not allowed: wholesale trade, most storage, a sanitary landfill, bus workshops and some industries (Table No. 3A, row 4, Third Amendment Rules, 2025). On the broad development zones map, red-orange is the Restricted Development Zone: Old Bhubaneswar (zone 18), the plan's Ekamra Kshetra heritage area (Map No. 13.1). More in red zone land meaning in Odisha.
Blue on the land-use map is commercial land: the Retail Commercial & Business Use Zone (C-1) in solid blue and the Wholesale Commercial Use Zone (C-2) in hatched blue. Sky blue (W-1) and aqua (W-2) are rivers and ponds (CDP Map No. 2). On the broad development zones map, light blue marks the Intensive Development Zones: Bhubaneswar New Town (zone 17), Khurda (23) and Jatani (25) (Map No. 13.1). More in blue zone land meaning in Odisha.
Where the plan puts new housing
The plan places most of the city's housing shortage in its yellow Extensive Development Zones: "The planning units Chandrasekharpur, East Kuakhai, Aigania, Tamando and Gangapada, earmarked for extensive development", with "Development of new housing colonies and new townships in the extensive development zones" (CDP executive summary). A planning zone marked for growth does not make every plot in it buildable: the plot's use zone still decides.
BDA has also published a draft plan for an extended area of 364 villages, the "Draft GIS based Comprehensive Development Plan for extended area of Bhubaneswar, 2040", with objections invited within 60 days (notification No. 3906 of 30 January 2024, Odisha Gazette, 2 March 2024); its Table I lists the villages by name. Ask BDA which plan applies to a plot in those villages. In April 2026 the Orissa High Court declined a housing society's petition to move its plots from the "Agricultural (Green) Zone" to the "Residential Zone" in the draft 2040 plan, calling it "preliminary and foresighted in nature" and leaving the society free to approach BDA (Officers Housing v. State of Odisha, 2026).
Changing a plot's zone
A zone changes only when the development plan is modified. The Authority may itself make only modifications "which do not relate to the extent of land uses or the standards of population density"; "The State Government may make any modifications to any development plan"; and before any modification a notice is published "inviting objections and suggestions" (Section 14, ODA Act, 1982). A use that existed when the plan came into force may go on: "it shall be lawful to continue the use ... of any land or building for the purpose and to the extent for and to which it is being used upon the date on which such development plan comes into force" (Section 19).
Conversion under Section 8-A of the Orissa Land Reforms Act is a different step. It changes the land's class (kisam) in the Record of Rights: "the kissam of the land so converted shall be corrected accordingly". The officer may allow it only if "such conversion shall not violate ... any master plan, improvement scheme, development plan or town planning scheme" (Section 8-A(1), Orissa Land Reforms Act, 1960). A conversion order does not move a plot out of the green zone; the conversion step is Check 7 of the land verification checklist.
Cuttack
Cuttack Development Authority's plan sets the same kinds of use zones: "Various use zones namely Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Public and Semi-Public, Utilities and Services, Recreational, Transportation, Agricultural, Water bodies and Special Areas" (CDA plan report, final proposal, archived copy). Its land-use map colours them as Bhubaneswar's does: yellow residential, blue retail commercial, purple industrial, red public and semi-public, and green recreational (CDA land-use map, archived copy). The report calls land a Sensitive Development Zone where it has "difficult topography that cannot accommodate conventional development like low lying flood prone areas existing agricultural land, tribal settlements and forest areas".
The state's rules of 15 November 2025 apply in Cuttack too: they extend to every development area declared under the ODA Act (Rule 1(2), Third Amendment Rules, 2025), so the same Tables 3A and 3B decide what may be built in each of Cuttack's use zones.
Check a plot's zone before you buy
BDA publishes its land-use plan planning zone by planning zone, from Zone 12 Bharatpur to Zone 25 Jatani, on its CDP land use zonal map page. For an answer you can rely on, ask the development authority for the plot's land use information: the public-service time limit is 3 days (ORTPS services).
The Record of Rights does not show the zone. It shows the plot's class of land (kisam), a different record: a plot in the yellow zone can still be recorded as agricultural until it is converted under Section 8-A. Open the Record of Rights by plot and read the kisam beside the land use information.
The other checks, from the encumbrance certificate to the seller's mutation, are in the land verification checklist.
Check the land and the names
The zone says what may be built; the record says who holds the land. Find every parcel recorded under a name, and run the Land Litigation Check on the names in the land's chain: 499 credits for up to 30 names, in the Orissa High Court and the district court where the land lies, or search one name across the courts.
No encumbrance certificate yet: we fetch it from IGR Odisha. The AI title report reads the EC, the Record of Rights and the deeds together, every finding cited to its page; our empanelled advocates give a written, signed opinion; and for a home loan, the bank's panel advocate prepares a title search report.
What a plot in any of these zones is valued at for stamp duty is its benchmark value: see it for a plot on BhoomiScan's land value, free with an account, and read what the benchmark value is.
More on Bhubaneswar and Cuttack: circle rates and the benchmark value in Bhubaneswar, stamp duty and the registration fee in Bhubaneswar, documents for registration at the Cuttack Sub-Registrar, land prices in Khordha and Cuttack and buying in Bhubaneswar from abroad.