Circle rate, guidance value, jantri: one rate, many names

By Parish Rao · 4 October 2026 · 7 minute read

Ask a Delhi owner about the circle rate and a Bangalore owner about the guidance value and you are asking both the same question. Every state sets a minimum value for property, and almost every state gives it a different name. This is the list, and what the rate does and does not mean.

What the rate is

Each state publishes an official minimum value for land and buildings, area by area. When a property is registered, stamp duty is charged on the agreement price or this official value, whichever is higher. That stops buyers and sellers from writing a low price into the deed to save duty.

The same number turns up in income tax. If a property is sold below it, the tax department can treat the official value as the sale price, with a tolerance of 10 percent. A buyer who pays below it can be taxed on the difference too.

The name in each state

Different names, one job. Each is a floor for stamp duty, published by the state, revised on the state's own timetable.

How often each one changes

That timetable varies enormously. Maharashtra revises its ready reckoner most years, from 1 April. Gujarat revised its jantri in April 2023 for the first time since 2011, and roughly doubled it. Delhi's circle rates were last notified in September 2014 and are still in force, with a revision under review since 2025.

A rate that has not moved in years falls far behind the market. A rate revised every year tracks it more closely, and in some places, such as parts of Chennai, the official value has at times sat above what property actually sells for.

What the rate is not

It is not the value of your property. It is one number for a whole area, applied to every property in it regardless of condition, floor, frontage, age or view. Two flats in the same building can share a rate and differ in real value by a large margin.

That is why a tax officer, a bank or a court asks for a valuation report rather than a printout of the rate. The report starts from the rate and then explains, with evidence, where your property actually sits.

Where the rate really matters

• Selling below it. If the market genuinely values your property below the official rate, a registered valuer's report is how you show the tax department why.
• The 1 April 2001 value. For property held since before that date, the value on that date can be used as your cost, but it cannot exceed the official stamp duty value on that date. Old rate books matter.
• Stamp duty. The buyer pays duty on the higher figure. Our stamp duty calculator carries the rates for fourteen states and territories.

For Delhi, the category of each colony and the rate attached to it are on our circle rate finder. For other cities, each of our city pages explains the local rate and how it is used.