• 21-05-2025

land requirement for a School in India. It is understandable since Land Requirement is possibly the most vital cog of the entire  scheme. So to make matters easy for everyone, I have decided to write this post on land requirement for not only a CBSE affiliated school but also for ICSE, IB and state board schools across India.

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE Board)

The land requirement for CBSE varies from city to city so from the table below one needs to find out the location and the corresponding land requirement as per the CBSE Bye-Laws.

City Type, In Acres

• Tier-I Cities Pre Primary – Class XII (Mumbai/Delhi/Chennai/Kolkata/Bangalore/Hyderabad) + NCT + Panchkula + Arunachal Pradesh, 1 Acre
• Tier-I Cities Pre Primary – Class X (Mumbai/Delhi/Chennai/Kolkata/Bangalore/Hyderabad) + NCT + Panchkula + Arunachal Pradesh, 0.5 Acre
• City with population more than 15 Lacs+, 1 Acre + with adequate building & arrangement with other institution/organization for imparting Physical & Health Education and for conducting games
• Schools located within the Municipal limit of the Capital Cities, 1 Acre
• Islands, 1 Acre
• North‐Eastern States and Jammu & Kashmir, 1 Acre
• For all others not finding a place above, 1.5 Acre

Things to Remember

1. The land should either under the ownership of the trust/society or in case of lease, it will be accepted if, it is for at least 15 years.
2. Provided further that in case of any portion, which is leased out below 15 years, such case may be. In case of lease, it will be accepted if considered provided that land has been allotted by the Govt. or Govt. Agencies and it is as per the Law of the land. In all such cases school should have at least one acre of land by ownership or by lease for 15 years and in all case the total land area should not be less than about 1.5 acres.

Strength & Area Required Norm

Campus Area, Enrolment / Student Limitations

• 1 Acres, 1250 (Max 2 sections each class from Pre Primary – Class X) (4 sections in Class XI & XII)
• 1.5 Acres, 1875 (Max 3 sections each class from Pre Primary – Class X) (4 sections in Class XI & XII)
• 2 Acres, 2500 (Max 4 sections each class from Pre Primary – Class X) (4 sections in Class XI & XII)
• 2 Acres +, Accommodate students on the basis of above unit calculations
•  

Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE Board)

Land Requirement for ICSE

City Type, In Acres

Al Cities across India (Rural/Urban), 0.5 Acre / 2000 Sq Meters

[/table1]

• All the land title documents should be in the name of the Society / Trust / Company / School. In case of ownership, the land title documents should be a Sale Deed / Conveyance Deed or Gift Deed duly registered before the registration authority concerned. In case of Lease, the Lease deed of the land / building should be duly registered before the concerned registration authority and should be for a minimum effective term of 30 years. In case the Lease Term is for less than 30 years, the Lease Deed should have an appropriate renewal clause upto a minimum of 30 years.

This part is not about how much land, this post is about the condition of the land, requirements thereof, legal requirements etc. These are some of the queries answered. Feel free to leave your comments and queries, I shall try to answer all of them

1) Do I have to get the land use / land diverted?
Answer: Yes you have to get the land use changed to ‘For Educational Purpose’. There will be a fee which the land revenue office will charge for the process.

Suggestion: If the land is more than what is required by the CBSE, just get the land use changed for that piece of land which is required by the CBSE  (on which you are going to get the school building erected).

2) Can the land be in two places in the same surroundings / vicinity

Answer: No, the land cannot be in two places. It has to be a singular piece of land. doesn’t matter how much the distance is between the two.

Suggestion: The Land Certificate by CBSE  is a very important document and it asks school to write the same thing that the land is in one place. Please get this certificate as is.

3) What should do if it is agricultural land?

Answer: You have to get the land use changed to ‘For Educational Purpose’. There will be a fee which the land revenue office will charge for the process. The answer is same as answer 1

4) What all land related documents are required for me to apply for CBSE affiliation?

Answer: The following will be definitely required –

1. Land Certificate by CBSE 
2. Land Registry Papers or Lease Deed
3. Map of the building

5) I want to start a school and looking for land, who could I get in touch with?

Answer: You can send me mail on my id auxiliuminnovators@gmail.com, I am also planning to create a link between the seller and the buyer. I might help. 
6) The land is on my personal name, what should I do?

Answer: CBSE allows school to take the land on LEASE for a MINIMUM term of 15 years, there is no maximum limit i suppose. So you can create a lease deed between yourself and the trust/society running the school.

Suggestion: If the land is more than 1.5 Acres or whatever is required by CBSE, just lease the exact land required by CBSE, rest let it be on your name.

Here is a table where you can find the land requirement for your city and town. Kindly note there are still some relaxation to do with Hilly Regions, so kindly look for more clarification in the CBSE Affiliation Bye Laws