Bihar Plans Digital Access to 5 Crore Land Records
Patna | August 10, 2026: Buying or selling property in Bihar could become easier to verify as the state government moves ahead with a massive plan to digitise nearly five crore land and property registration records dating back to 1908.
The initiative is aimed at making old property documents safer, easier to find and accessible without requiring citizens to repeatedly visit registration offices.
Nearly 5 Crore Records to Go Digital
The Prohibition, Excise and Registration Department has started work on converting registered land and property documents from 1908 to the present into digital records.
According to the department, the move will help citizens obtain certified copies of registration documents more quickly. It could also make it easier to access property-related information remotely and address disputes or complaints involving registration records.
1996 Onward Records Already Digitised
The digitisation of documents registered from 1996 onwards has already been completed, while officials are now concentrating on older records.
The department is currently working on around 33 lakh documents registered between 1990 and 1995. Nearly 20 lakh of these records have already been digitised.
Similarly, around 68 lakh documents from 1996 to 2005 have been digitised across different registration offices, with verification and correction of errors almost complete.
Two Crore Records From 2006 to 2025 Completed
Bihar has 145 registration offices, where digitisation of nearly two crore documents registered between 2006 and 2025 has also been completed.
Officials said errors identified during the digitisation process have been rectified, helping improve the reliability of the digital database.
Why This Matters for Property Buyers
For someone buying a plot or house, old registration documents can become crucial when checking the ownership history of a property.
A properly digitised record system could make it easier to locate historical documents, obtain certified copies and verify property-related information. This may reduce the time and effort involved in property transactions while also helping authorities deal with disputes more efficiently.
Bihar’s Property Records Go Back More Than 200 Years
The state's land registration history is extensive. Registration of land began in 1796 in Patna, Muzaffarpur and Purnia.
The current digitisation drive therefore goes beyond simply creating a modern database. It is also aimed at preserving a huge archive of Bihar's land and property records for future use.
What Property Owners Should Expect
Once the system becomes fully operational, citizens are expected to have greater access to registration information without depending entirely on physical records.
For property owners and prospective buyers, the biggest potential benefit will be faster access to documents and easier verification of property history. However, buyers should still verify ownership, title and other legal documents through the appropriate authorities before completing a property transaction.
Grihik Take
A property document is more than just a piece of paper—it can determine who legally owns a property and whether a transaction is safe. Bihar's move to digitise nearly five crore records could make that information significantly easier to preserve, find and verify.
If implemented effectively, the initiative could reduce the dependence on ageing physical records and make property registration services more transparent and convenient for ordinary buyers and sellers.