The builder quotes ₹8,500/sq ft. The government registration uses square meters. Your bank loan documents use both. And you're sitting there trying to figure out if you're overpaying. One wrong conversion and you could misjudge a ₹50 lakh property by ₹5 lakh.
The Formula: sq ft to sq m
1 sq ft = 0.092903 sq m
sq m = sq ft × 0.092903
| Square Feet | Calculation | Square Meters | |------------|------------|--------------| | 1 sq ft | 1 × 0.092903 | 0.093 sq m | | 100 sq ft | 100 × 0.092903 | 9.29 sq m | | 500 sq ft | 500 × 0.092903 | 46.45 sq m | | 1000 sq ft | 1000 × 0.092903 | 92.90 sq m | | 1500 sq ft | 1500 × 0.092903 | 139.35 sq m | | 2000 sq ft | 2000 × 0.092903 | 185.81 sq m |
The Reverse: sq m to sq ft
1 sq m = 10.7639 sq ft
sq ft = sq m × 10.7639
| Square Meters | Calculation | Square Feet | |--------------|------------|------------| | 10 sq m | 10 × 10.7639 | 107.64 sq ft | | 50 sq m | 50 × 10.7639 | 538.20 sq ft | | 100 sq m | 100 × 10.7639 | 1,076.39 sq ft | | 200 sq m | 200 × 10.7639 | 2,152.78 sq ft |
Convert any area with our Area Converter.
Indian Real Estate: The Three Area Systems
📊 Diagram: How Indian Property Area Is Measured
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ INDIAN PROPERTY AREA: THREE NUMBERS │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ BUILDER QUOTES: Super Built-Up Area │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ ██████████████████████████████████████████ │ │
│ │ ██ CARPET ██ BALCONY ██ TERRACE ██ │ │
│ │ ██ AREA ██ + WALLS ██ + CORRIDOR ██ │ │
│ │ ██ (real) ██ (shared) ██ (shared) ██ │ │
│ │ ██████████████████████████████████████████ │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ RERA MANDATES: Carpet Area (what you actually get) │
│ ┌──────────────────────┐ │
│ │ ████████████████████│ │
│ │ ██ USABLE AREA ██│ Walls excluded │
│ │ ██ (what you walk ██│ Balconies separate │
│ │ ██ on) ██│ No common areas │
│ │ ████████████████████│ │
│ └──────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ GOVERNMENT RECORDS: Square Meters (sq m) │
│ All registration, stamp duty, property tax │
│ uses sq m as the legal unit. │
│ │
│ Typical ratio: Carpet ≈ 70-80% of Super Built-Up │
│ A "1000 sq ft" flat may have only 700 sq ft carpet │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The Trench Truth: When a builder says "3 BHK, 1500 sq ft, ₹7,500/sq ft," they mean super built-up area. Your actual usable carpet area is typically 25-30% less — around 1,050-1,125 sq ft. RERA (2016) made it mandatory to quote carpet area, but many builders still lead with super built-up because the per-sq-ft price looks lower. A ₹7,500/sq ft super built-up rate is actually ₹10,000/sq ft of carpet area. Always ask for the carpet area before comparing prices.
Indian Property Size Reference
📊 Common Flat Sizes
| Configuration | Super Built-Up (sq ft) | Carpet Area (sq ft) | Carpet (sq m) | Price at ₹8K/sq ft | |--------------|----------------------|--------------------|--------------|--------------------| | 1 BHK | 500-600 | 350-420 | 33-39 | ₹28-34 lakh | | 2 BHK | 800-1000 | 560-700 | 52-65 | ₹45-56 lakh | | 3 BHK | 1200-1500 | 840-1050 | 78-98 | ₹67-84 lakh | | 4 BHK | 2000-2500 | 1400-1750 | 130-163 | ₹1.1-1.4 Cr | | Penthouse | 3000-5000 | 2100-3500 | 195-325 | ₹1.7-2.8 Cr |
📊 Land Measurement in India
| Unit | sq ft | sq m | Used In | |------|-------|------|---------| | 1 Bigha (UP) | 27,000 | 2,508 | UP, Uttarakhand | | 1 Bigha (Punjab) | 9,070 | 843 | Punjab, Haryana | | 1 Bigha (Bihar) | 27,220 | 2,530 | Bihar, Jharkhand | | 1 Katha (Bihar) | 1,361 | 126 | Bihar | | 1 Cent | 435.6 | 40.47 | Tamil Nadu, Kerala | | 1 Guntha | 1,089 | 101.2 | Maharashtra | | 1 Ground | 2,400 | 223 | Tamil Nadu | | 1 Acre | 43,560 | 4,047 | All India | | 1 Hectare | 107,639 | 10,000 | Government records |
The Trench Truth: "1 bigha" means different things in different states — 27,000 sq ft in UP vs 9,070 sq ft in Punjab. That's a 3× difference for the same word. If someone tells you they own "5 bigha," you literally cannot calculate the area without knowing which state they're in. This is why government land records use hectares exclusively — but local conversations still use bigha.
RERA Carpet Area Rules (2016)
| What's Included | What's Excluded | |-----------------|----------------| | ✅ Usable floor area inside walls | ❌ External walls | | ✅ Internal partition walls | ❌ Balconies (listed separately) | | ✅ Kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, hall | ❌ Terraces (listed separately) | | ✅ Storage areas within rooms | ❌ Common corridors, lifts, lobby | | | ❌ Society office, club house |
Loading factor (super built-up ÷ carpet area) is capped by RERA but varies: | City | Typical Loading | What "1500 sq ft super" really gives you | |------|----------------|----------------------------------------| | Mumbai | 30-35% | 975-1,050 sq ft carpet | | Delhi NCR | 25-30% | 1,050-1,125 sq ft carpet | | Bangalore | 20-25% | 1,125-1,200 sq ft carpet | | Chennai | 20-25% | 1,125-1,200 sq ft carpet | | Hyderabad | 15-20% | 1,200-1,275 sq ft carpet |
Stamp Duty & Registration: Why sq m Matters
Government stamp duty is calculated on property value, which uses sq m in official records.
| State | Stamp Duty | Registration | On What | |-------|-----------|-------------|---------| | Maharashtra | 5% | 1% | Market value (sq m rate) | | Delhi | 4% (M), 6% (F) | 1% | Circle rate × sq m | | Karnataka | 5% | 1% | Guidance value × sq m | | Tamil Nadu | 7% | 1% | Guideline value × sq m | | UP | 7% | 1% | Circle rate × sq m |
Convert your property area with our Area Converter and calculate your loan with our Loan EMI Calculator.
Key Takeaways
- 1 sq ft = 0.092903 sq m and 1 sq m = 10.7639 sq ft
- Carpet area ≈ 70-80% of super built-up — always ask for carpet area
- "1 bigha" varies 3× across states — from 9,070 to 27,220 sq ft
- RERA mandates carpet area disclosure — but builders still quote super built-up
- Government records use sq m — stamp duty and registration are calculated in sq m
- Mumbai has the highest loading (30-35%) — a "1000 sq ft" flat gives only 650-700 sq ft carpet
- Convert any area: Area Converter | Length Converter | Loan EMI Calculator | Compound Interest Calculator
Related articles: kg to lbs Guide | Celsius to Fahrenheit | Home Loan EMI Explained
Sources: RERA Act 2016, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, State Stamp Duty Schedules, National Building Code of India 2016, Circle Rate/Guidance Value databases (state-specific).
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