Guideline Value Tamil Nadu: How to Check Online (2026 Guide)
Find the official guideline value for any street or survey number on TNREGINET, understand how it is fixed and revised, and see how it sets the stamp duty on your land purchase.
The guideline value (Valikatti Mathippu, வழிகாட்டி மதிப்பு) is the minimum value the Tamil Nadu Registration Department assigns to land on each street or survey number, and you can look it up free on tnreginet.gov.in using the guideline value search. Stamp duty and the registration fee on a sale deed are charged on the guideline value or the price in the deed, whichever is higher. For a land buyer it fixes your minimum government cost, and a deed priced well below it can draw an undervaluation notice later.
At a glance
What we confirmed, and what you should still check on the portal or at the Sub-Registrar office (சார்பதிவாளர் அலுவலகம்).
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Official portal | tnreginet.gov.in, run by the Inspector General of Registration, Tamil Nadu | TNREGINET |
| Menu to use | Guideline value search (வழிகாட்டி மதிப்பு தேடல்), with a street or survey number option | TNREGINET home page |
| Cost to search | Free; no login was needed for the search when we checked | TNREGINET |
| Who fixes values | Valuation committees under the 2010 rules on estimation, publication and revision of market value guidelines | Madras High Court order, 25 March 2025 |
| Undervaluation law | Section 47A of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as it applies in Tamil Nadu, with the 1968 rules on prevention of undervaluation | Supreme Court judgment, 7 September 2026 (as reported) |
| Latest broad revision | Reported effective 1 July 2024; rules reported in June 2025 let committees revise at any time | Press reports; official notice not read |
What guideline value is
Every state sets a government floor value for land so duty is not paid on an artificially low price. Tamil Nadu calls it guideline value; our page on circle rate names by state lists the rest.
In Tamil Nadu the value is set at two levels of detail:
- Street-wise values for built-up and urban areas, where every plot fronting a named street carries the same rate per square foot or square metre.
- Survey number-wise values for agricultural and village land, where the rate attaches to the survey number or sub-division in the revenue records.
The guideline value is not a market price. Courts treat it as a prima facie indication of value, not conclusive evidence of market value, as noted in the Supreme Court's Bharat Petroleum Corporation judgment of 7 September 2026.
For the difference in practice, read circle rate vs market rate.
Who fixes it and how it is revised
Guideline values are estimated, notified and revised by valuation committees under the Tamil Nadu Stamp rules of 2010 on the constitution of valuation committees for market value guidelines. A Madras High Court order of 25 March 2025 (N. Subramani v. Inspector General of Registration) tied the committee's power to those rules and directed a landowner's request for correction of an agricultural guideline value to be placed before the committee for a decision within three months.
If you believe a value is wrong, the route is:
- Make a written representation to the District Registrar for the area, with the survey number, the current value shown on TNREGINET and your evidence (recent registered sale deeds nearby, land classification, access).
- The representation goes to the valuation committee, which decides whether to revise the value.
In June 2025 the government was reported to have notified revised rules under which valuation committees can update guideline values at any time of the year, instead of on a fixed cycle. In 2026 the Registration Minister reportedly directed that each survey number get its own value. We could not open official notifications for either.
Revision history since 2017
Online figures conflict because values have moved several times:
- June 2017: guideline values were reduced by about 33%, while the registration fee was raised to 4%.
- 30 March 2023: a department circular restored older values. The Madras High Court quashed that circular in December 2023 and a division bench upheld the order in early 2024, directing the state to apply the 2017 values until committees revised them through due process (as reported).
- 1 July 2024: revised guideline values were reported to take effect, with increases of around 10% in Chennai and some other areas.
We could not read official orders for the 2024 and 2025 changes. What counts is the value the portal shows for your survey number on registration day.
Step by step: search guideline value on TNREGINET
Menu names below are the Tamil labels we read on the home page; the portal also has an English view.
- Open tnreginet.gov.in and find the guideline value search (வழிகாட்டி மதிப்பு தேடல்) on the home page.
- Choose whether you are searching by street or by survey number (the option reads தெரு / புல எண்). Use survey number for farmland.
- Select the zone, then the Sub-Registrar office, then the village. If you do not know which office covers the village, use the "know your jurisdiction" tool (உங்கள் அதிகார எல்லையை தெரிந்து கொள்ளுங்கள்) first.
- Enter the survey number, or pick the street from the list, and fill in the captcha.
- Read the value and classification against each survey or sub-division number, and save a dated screenshot.
- For a building on the land, use the building value calculation tool (கட்டிட மதிப்பு கணக்கீடு செய்தல்) separately; the land value search does not include structures.
Match the survey number to the Patta first
Pull the Patta (பட்டா) and Chitta for the exact survey and sub-division number before searching. A whole survey number and its sub-divisions can carry different values and classifications, and searching the wrong one is the most common error.
Our guide to Patta Chitta in Tamil Nadu shows how to download those records.
Reading the result and doing the maths
For each line, the portal shows the survey or sub-division number, the land classification and the rate per unit. Three checks matter:
- Unit: village land may be shown per hectare or per acre and urban land per square foot or square metre. Tamil Nadu records also use cents (1 acre = 100 cents). Convert before multiplying; see land measurement units in India.
- Classification: wet (nanjai, நஞ்சை), dry (punjai, புஞ்சை) and house-site land usually carry different values. The classification on the portal should match the Chitta and the actual use.
- Street versus survey value: a plot fronting a named street may take the street value; ask the Sub-Registrar which applies.
The method is simple: area in the portal's unit multiplied by the rate gives the guideline value of your land. Compare it with the agreed price. The higher figure becomes the value on which duty and fee are charged.
How stamp duty and registration use it
On a sale deed, the Sub-Registrar's system takes the higher of the guideline value and the consideration as the base. Stamp duty of 7% and a registration fee of 2% on that base are widely reported for sale deeds since 1 April 2023, but we could not open the Government Order for these rates; the portal's stamp duty calculation check (உங்களது முத்திரைத்தீர்வை கணக்கீட்டினை சரிபார்த்தல்) shows the exact figure for your document.
If the Sub-Registrar believes the value in a deed is below market value, the deed can be referred under Section 47A of the Indian Stamp Act as applicable in Tamil Nadu, with the procedure set out in the 1968 rules on prevention of undervaluation; the Inspector General of Registration is the appellate authority under Rule 9 of those rules. Its scope is before a larger Supreme Court bench after a 7 September 2026 reference, so take advice from a local advocate if you receive a notice.
Income tax also uses the stamp duty value: the seller's capital gains and, beyond a tolerance band, the buyer's taxable income can be worked out on it when the price is lower. Confirm the current provisions under the Income-tax Act, 2025 with a chartered accountant.
What to check before you rely on it
- Search on the day you pay, not from a broker's printout or a PDF from an earlier year.
- Confirm the survey and sub-division number, village and Sub-Registrar office match the Patta, Chitta and the encumbrance certificate. See our encumbrance certificate guide.
- If the deed price is below guideline value, duty is still charged on guideline value.
- Check whether the land is classified as agricultural or house site on the portal; a mismatch can change the value sharply.
- Guideline value says nothing about title; run the land due diligence checklist separately.





