Guidance Value Bangalore 2026: How to Check on Kaveri & 15% Hike

To check the guidance value for any Bangalore property, visit the Kaveri portal at kaveri.karnataka.gov.in/landing-page, open the Guidance Value Search or Stamp Duty Calculator, select Bangalore Urban and the relevant Sub-Registrar Office, enter your village or area and survey number, choose property type, and the portal returns the current per-square-foot guidance value for that location.

Guidance Value in Bangalore is the minimum property value set by the Karnataka Department of Stamps and Registration at which a property must be legally registered. It is the basis for calculating stamp duty (5% standard) and registration charges (2% as of 2026; Karnataka doubled the registration fee from 1% to 2% effective 31 August 2025, so older guides showing 1% are outdated). The Karnataka government has proposed a 10-15% hike to guidance values, but as of June 2026 the new rates remain proposed and not gazetted; current rates apply until the formal notification is issued.

This guide covers the 6-step Kaveri portal lookup, the proposed 15% hike and its stamp duty impact, zone-wise rates across Bangalore, the difference between guidance value and market value, how the 0.5% sale agreement stamp duty fits in, and what buyers and sellers should plan for in 2026.

What Is Guidance Value? The 1-Sentence Definition

Guidance value is the government-set minimum value per square foot or square metre at which a property in a specific location must be registered for stamp duty and registration purposes. It's also called the SR Value (Stamp Registration Value), Circle Rate (used in some North Indian states), or GLR Value (Government Land Rates) in various government documents; all four terms refer to the same number.

It is not the market price. Market prices in Bangalore are almost always 30-60% higher than guidance values in prime zones. The guidance value is the floor: your registered sale price cannot legally go below it, and stamp duty is calculated on whichever is higher (guidance value or your actual sale price).

The Proposed 15% Hike in 2026: What's Happening

The Karnataka government has proposed a 10-15% hike to guidance values across the state. As of June 2026, the formal gazette notification has not been issued; the Department of Stamps and Registration has been tabulating revised values for several months, but current rates remain in force for new registrations until the new notification kicks in. A separate localised 6-15% revision was applied within Bengaluru urban limits in February 2026, which buyers should sanity-check against the Kaveri portal for the specific SRO covering their property.

If the 10-15% hike is gazetted and goes into effect:

• Per-square-foot guidance values rise correspondingly across SRO zones; exact rates vary dramatically by micro-location and property type, so pull the live number from the Kaveri portal for the specific SRO covering your property
• For a flat where the guidance-value-based stamp duty would have been ₹X, the post-hike liability rises proportionally (a 15% hike → roughly 15% more stamp duty + registration on the guidance-value portion)
• Lock in the registration date if your transaction is mid-flight and you want to avoid the upward revision

Why the hike matters for buyers right now: if you're planning to close on a Bangalore property in 2026, the timing of registration relative to the hike implementation date could save or cost you ₹2-5 lakh on stamp duty alone. Track the Karnataka Gazette notification carefully; the new rates apply from the date specified in the notification, not retroactively.

Why it matters for sellers: higher guidance values mean higher minimum sale registrations, which slightly compress the margin for under-pricing the Sale Deed for tax purposes. Sellers who were budgeting based on 2023 guidance values should refresh their numbers before listing.

How to Check Guidance Value on the Kaveri Portal: 6 Steps

The Karnataka Department of Stamps and Registration runs the Kaveri portal, the official source for guidance value lookups in Bangalore and across Karnataka. Checking your property's guidance value is free and doesn't require registration.

Step 1: Open the Kaveri portal

Visit kaveri.karnataka.gov.in/landing-page. From the homepage, look for Guidance Value Search or Stamp Duty & Registration Fee Calculator. The portal underwent its Kaveri 2.0 upgrade in 2025 with a cleaner interface and faster lookups.

Step 2: Select district and Sub-Registrar Office

Choose Bangalore Urban for most city properties: flats, villas, plots, and commercial within BBMP limits. Choose Bangalore Rural for periphery areas like parts of Devanahalli, Hoskote, Anekal, and Nelamangala that fall outside core BBMP jurisdiction.

Then select the SRO (Sub-Registrar Office) with jurisdiction over your property's location. Bangalore Urban has multiple SROs: Shivajinagar, Jayanagar, Basavanagudi, Indiranagar, Rajajinagar, Bommanahalli, Mahadevapura, Yelahanka, Yeshwanthpur, and others. Choose by the property's location, not your residence.

Step 3: Enter property identifiers

Provide:

• Village or area name (e.g., Whitefield, Koramangala 4th Block, Indiranagar 1st Stage)
• Hobli (administrative sub-division)
• Survey number (for plots) or street/road name (for apartments)

The portal uses these to narrow down to specific guidance value rates, and rates can change at the level of individual streets or apartment complexes.

Step 4: Select property type

Property type matters significantly:

• Residential apartment / flat
• Residential plot
• Commercial unit / shop / office
• Agricultural land
• Industrial

A residential plot in Whitefield is priced differently from a commercial unit on the same street, often by 30-50%.

Step 5: View the guidance value

The portal returns the current per-square-foot or per-square-metre guidance value for that exact location and property type. Note this number; it's the minimum at which your property must be registered, and the basis for your stamp duty calculation.

Step 6: Calculate stamp duty

The same portal includes a Stamp Duty Calculator. Enter:

• The guidance value or your actual sale price (whichever is higher)
• Property type
• Gender of the buyer (Karnataka offers small concessions for female buyers and joint registrations)

The calculator returns:

• Stamp duty: 5% standard
• Registration fee: ~2% (revised in 2026 for many urban transactions)
• Cess: 10% on stamp duty for BBMP / BMRDA properties
• Surcharge: 2% on stamp duty

Total cost of registration typically lands around 7.5-8% of the registered value.

Guidance Value vs Market Value: The Critical Difference

These two numbers get conflated by first-time buyers, but they serve different purposes:

Worked example for a 1,200 sq ft flat in Whitefield (2026 estimates):

• Guidance value: ~₹16,500/sq ft → ₹1.98 crore minimum registration
• Market value: ~₹25,000-28,000/sq ft → ₹3.0-3.4 crore actual asking
• Registered sale price: Whatever you negotiate, but cannot legally be below ₹1.98 crore
• Stamp duty: 5% × registered price + cess + surcharge ≈ ₹15-25 lakh depending on final price

If your seller agrees to a price below guidance value (say ₹1.8 crore), the Sale Deed must still register at the guidance value of ₹1.98 crore and stamp duty is calculated on the higher number. This means you'd pay stamp duty on value you didn't actually receive, which is why undervaluing a Sale Deed below guidance value is almost never a practical strategy.

Zone-Wise Guidance Value Rates in Bangalore: Indicative 2026

Bangalore guidance values vary dramatically by zone and property type. These are indicative ranges as of mid-2026; older guides may show different numbers, and rates will rise once the proposed 10-15% hike is gazetted. Always pull the live rate from the Kaveri portal for the specific SRO covering your property; do not rely on city-wide averages for an actual transaction.

Within each zone, individual streets, apartment complexes, and even floor numbers can have different guidance values. Premium projects with branded builder amenities often have higher base values than the area average.

The 0.5% Sale Agreement Stamp Duty: A Karnataka Quirk

Karnataka requires a 0.5% stamp duty on the sale agreement at the time of booking or token payment, before the final Sale Deed is executed. Many buyers miss this and pay penalties later, or fail to claim the 0.5% adjustment at final registration.

How it works:

1. You pay token amount or booking fee to the seller and sign a Sale Agreement
2. The Sale Agreement is registered at the Kaveri portal with 0.5% stamp duty paid at this stage
3. When the final Sale Deed is registered (after final payment, usually 30-90 days later), the balance stamp duty is paid
4. The 0.5% adjustment requires denotation via Kaveri's Denotation of Stamp Duty workflow, processed electronically by the Sub-Registrar Office (no separate physical visit required), completed BEFORE the Sale Deed is registered; once the Sale Deed is registered without this denotation step, the 0.5% paid on the Sale Agreement cannot be reclaimed. During Sale Deed registration, you must disclose to the Sub-Registrar that 0.5% has already been paid on the Sale Agreement, with the denotation reference, and this gets adjusted from the final stamp duty payable

So for a ₹1 crore property:

• Sale Agreement stamp duty (0.5%): ₹50,000 paid at booking
• Sale Deed stamp duty (4.5% balance + cess + surcharge): paid at final registration
• Total stamp duty: still ~5% + cess + surcharge; you don't pay twice

If you skip the Sale Agreement registration step, you forfeit the 0.5% adjustment and end up paying full stamp duty plus a penalty for late registration of the agreement. For deeper context on the agreement vs deed distinction, see our Sale Deed vs Sale Agreement guide.

Calculator Example: 2BHK in Whitefield, 1,200 sq ft

Working through a complete example to make the numbers concrete. Assume a 1,200 sq ft 2BHK flat in Whitefield with a registered sale price of ₹1.5 crore (the actual stamp duty / registration base is the higher of guidance value or sale price; pull guidance value from Kaveri for the specific SRO before finalising the math; for this illustration we use the sale price as the dutiable base).

Important: in this example, the buyer's actual sale price (₹1.5 crore) is BELOW the guidance value (₹2.32 crore). This is unusual but happens with motivated sellers, family transfers, or distressed sales. The Sub-Registrar still calculates stamp duty on the guidance value; you cannot pay tax on a lower number than the government's floor.

In most real Bangalore sales, the actual sale price is higher than guidance value, and stamp duty is calculated on the actual sale price.

What Buyers and Sellers Should Plan For in 2026

If you're buying:

• Check the live guidance value on the Kaveri portal before signing any agreement; don't rely on the seller's stated number
• Budget 7.5-8% of the registered value for stamp duty + registration + cess + surcharges
• The proposed 10-15% hike is not yet gazetted as of June 2026; factor in potential additional cost if your registration date falls after the new rates kick in
• For under-construction projects, the guidance value at the time of final Sale Deed registration applies, not at booking; this can shift if the hike happens between your booking and final registration

If you're selling:

• Refresh your guidance value reference on the Kaveri portal before listing; 2023 numbers are outdated
• If your asking price is close to guidance value, the buyer will pay stamp duty on guidance value, which may compress what they're willing to pay you
• For older properties where market value is well below guidance value (rare but happens in distressed zones), the buyer's higher stamp duty obligation becomes a negotiation point

If you're investing:

• Properties in zones where guidance values are rising faster than market values are becoming relatively less attractive; your effective transaction tax rises
• Zones where market values are pulling significantly ahead of guidance values (Whitefield, Sarjapur, parts of North Bangalore) suggest stronger underlying demand
• The guidance value gap to market value is a rough leading indicator of unrealised price growth in a zone

How Homesok Uses Guidance Value in Listings

Every Homesok property listing includes both the current guidance value (pulled from Kaveri at the time of listing) and our market-priced ask. This makes the stamp duty cost transparent up front: no surprises at registration. For buyers using a home loan, the guidance value also determines the minimum loan-to-value calculation the bank uses, so getting this number right at the outset matters.

If you want a guidance value lookup for a specific Bangalore property before making an offer, or you want help interpreting the proposed 15% hike against a specific transaction timeline, our team can run the Kaveri lookup and the stamp duty math for you. First lookup is complimentary for any Bangalore buyer.