Buying the plot is the easy part. Before you can lay a single brick, Telangana law requires formal building permission for pretty much every residential construction, and getting this wrong isn't a minor paperwork slip, it can mean a stop-work notice or, in the worst cases, a demolition order. Since December 2025, the whole process runs through a new state portal called BuildNow Telangana, which replaced the older TG-bPASS and TS-bPASS systems. If you've bought your plot recently, here's what actually changed, which approval category you'll fall into, what to keep ready, and roughly how long it takes.
Why You Can't Skip Building Permission
Under the Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019, no construction on a plot within GHMC, HMDA, or DTCP limits is legal without a sanctioned building plan, full stop. Doesn't matter if it's an independent house, a small ground-plus-one home, or a larger villa. Building without permission, or building beyond what was actually sanctioned, counts as unauthorised construction, and Telangana has gotten a lot more serious about enforcing this in recent years. Every district now has a Special Task Force headed by the District Collector, and they have the power to demolish unauthorised structures without prior notice, under Section 174(4) of the Act.
So if you've just bought an open plot from KLR Projects, or from any developer for that matter, this is genuinely the next step before construction starts: figure out which approval category your plot falls into, get the right documents together, and apply through the correct portal before your engineer breaks ground. If you're still deciding between an HMDA and a DTCP layout, it's worth reading our DTCP vs HMDA vs RERA guide first, since your plot's jurisdiction is exactly what determines the building bye-laws below.
What Changed: The BuildNow Telangana Portal
Until late 2025, building and layout approvals in Telangana went through TG-bPASS, itself the successor to an even older system called DPMS. From December 15, 2025, that portal was permanently shut to new applications. Every fresh building permission request under GHMC, HMDA, and DTCP jurisdiction now goes through BuildNow, the state's unified building and layout approval system.
It's not just a rebrand, either. The portal runs automated scrutiny that checks your submitted drawings against zoning rules, setback norms, and floor space index limits before a human reviewer even opens the file. For straightforward applications, that can mean a genuinely faster turnaround than the old manual process used to give. One thing worth knowing: a building permission sanctioned under the older TG-bPASS system before the cutover is still valid, you don't need to reapply for an existing sanctioned plan. But any new application, including for a plot you've just bought, has to go through BuildNow now.
Which Authority Applies to Your Plot
Before you apply, it helps to confirm which jurisdiction your plot actually falls under, since this determines the building bye-laws that apply and, in panchayat areas, even which office you're dealing with. For a fuller breakdown of what HMDA and DTCP approval each actually mean, see our HMDA vs DTCP plots guide.
- GHMC limits: Plots within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation boundary. Applications go through BuildNow under GHMC building bye-laws.
- HMDA limits (outside GHMC): Plots in the wider Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority area, common across much of the outer growth corridors. Also processed via BuildNow, under HMDA norms.
- DTCP limits: Plots falling under the Director of Town and Country Planning's jurisdiction, typically further from the core city. Also on BuildNow.
- Gram panchayat areas outside GHMC, HMDA, and DTCP: Applicants generally still visit the local Mandal or municipality office directly for the application form and fee schedule, rather than using BuildNow.
Not sure which bucket you're in? You can check your plot's exact jurisdiction, and any pending building permission records tied to a survey number, through BuildNow's citizen search tools before you begin.
The Three Approval Categories
BuildNow, like TS-bPASS before it, sorts applications into three categories based on plot size and proposed building height. Which one you land in tells you roughly how much paperwork to brace for.
- Instant Registration: For plots up to 75 square yards (about 63 square metres) where construction is limited to ground floor or ground plus one, up to roughly 7 metres in height. You don't need a full building permit here, but you still have to register the construction online and pay a registration fee, usually described as a nominal token amount, along with your first property tax receipt.
- Instant Approval: For small to mid-sized residential plots above the Instant Registration threshold, generally up to around 600 square yards with height up to about 10 metres. If your application and drawings are complete and compliant, approval can come through immediately on submission, which is genuinely convenient if your paperwork is in order.
- Single Window Approval: For larger plots and taller buildings beyond the Instant Approval limits. These go through full town planning scrutiny, sometimes a site inspection, and can pull in multiple No Objection Certificates for larger or commercial-adjacent constructions.
Most people building an independent home on a plot bought from a gated layout in the outer corridors end up in Instant Registration or Instant Approval. Gated community housing projects, larger villas, or multi-unit buildings typically land in Single Window instead.
Documents You Need Before Applying
Get these ready before you even open the portal. An incomplete submission just resets the clock, and there's no upside to finding that out midway. If you're unsure what any of these documents actually look like or how to read them, our guide on how to read plot documents in Telangana covers the sale deed, EC, and title chain in more detail.
- Registered sale deed in your name for the specific plot and survey number
- Latest property tax receipt for the plot
- Layout approval copy for the residential layout the plot belongs to (HMDA, GHMC, or DTCP, whichever applies)
- Building drawings, prepared and signed by a licensed engineer or registered architect, showing setbacks, floor plan, height, and parking provision
- Ownership affidavit confirming you're the rightful owner and there's no ongoing dispute over the land
- Application fee challan, generated and paid online through the portal; the exact amount gets calculated automatically based on plot size, zone, and building category, so don't expect a fixed number
If your plot is over 500 square metres, or sits in a sensitive zone such as near the airport or a heritage site, additional NOCs from departments like fire services or the Airports Authority of India tend to get routed automatically through the single-window system.
Step-by-Step: Applying Through BuildNow
- Register on the BuildNow Telangana portal with your mobile number and basic details.
- Select your application type based on plot size and building height: Instant Registration, Instant Approval, or Single Window.
- Upload the required documents and drawings, ensuring the drawings are signed by a licensed engineer or architect.
- Pay the application fee generated by the portal for your specific application.
- Automated scrutiny checks your drawings against zoning rules, setbacks, and floor space index for the plot's classification.
- Site inspection, if required for your category, is scheduled and conducted by the local town planning office.
- Sanctioned plan issued as a stamped drawing plus a Building Permission proceedings letter, both downloadable from the portal once approved and fees are cleared.
Keep both a digital and a printed copy of the sanctioned plan at the construction site. Site inspectors and enforcement teams routinely ask to see it on the spot, and not having it handy can itself trigger a compliance notice, even if your paperwork is otherwise fine.
Fees, Timelines, and Deemed Approval
Fees get calculated automatically on the BuildNow portal based on plot size, zone, and application category, so there's no single fixed number you can quote across every plot, and honestly, anyone who tells you there is one probably hasn't applied recently. Instant Registration involves a nominal token fee. Instant Approval and Single Window fees scale up with plot size and construction category.
On timelines: Instant Registration and Instant Approval can, in principle, be granted immediately if your submission is complete and compliant. Single Window applications take longer, simply because they involve full scrutiny and sometimes a site visit. Here's the part worth remembering, though: under the TS-bPASS Act, 2020, if the authority doesn't act on a complete application within 21 days, the permission is treated as deemed approved. That deemed-approval clock is one of the more useful protections you have if you're dealing with a slow office, though it only kicks in once your application is genuinely complete, not before.
Setbacks, FSI, and What Happens If You Deviate
The sanctioned plan governs everything, setbacks from each boundary, permissible floor count, maximum height, parking provision, even the water and sewage layout. It's extremely common for owners to later add a slab, enclose a balcony, or build a little into a setback "just this once." That's exactly where enforcement teams tend to focus.
Deviations get assessed by the local task force as either under or over 10 percent, measured specifically against front and rear setbacks. Even a deviation under 10 percent can attract a penalty. Cross that threshold and the District Collector's Special Task Force can revoke the building permission outright, with consequences that range from a monetary penalty of up to 25 percent of the land and building value, to criminal proceedings, to demolition without further notice. Converting your designated parking area to any other use carries its own separate penalty under the same framework, so resist the temptation.
The practical takeaway, really: build strictly to the sanctioned drawing. If your plans change mid-construction, get the revision approved before you build it, not after the fact.
The Occupancy Certificate After Construction
Getting building permission isn't the finish line. Once construction wraps up, an Occupancy Certificate (OC) is mandatory before you move in, for any building on a plot larger than 100 square metres (roughly 120 square yards) or taller than 7 metres, which covers most independent houses and villas on standard residential plots. You apply for the OC through the same BuildNow portal, and it's issued after an as-built inspection confirms the finished structure actually matches the sanctioned plan.
Skipping the OC creates problems that go beyond the legal risk, too. A number of Hyderabad households without an OC have run into disputes over water tariff billing, since the absence of an OC has in some cases been used to deny the lower domestic water tariff they'd otherwise qualify for. Getting the OC promptly after construction, and filing it away alongside your property tax receipts and registered sale deed, is a small effort that saves a real headache later.