Short answer: You can lease land in Tamil Nadu to a solar developer, a mobile tower company or an oil company, or to someone who will farm it. Each wants different land. A solar plant of 500 kW to 2 MW needs land near an electricity substation. A tower company needs your written consent and an agreement. An oil company needs a plot of about 20 m by 20 m to 35 m by 35 m right on a main road. Any lease of more than a year must be registered. Never pay anyone a fee to get your land leased: genuine companies do not charge one.
This guide is for owners of farm land, dry land or a roadside plot in Tamil Nadu who want a regular income from it without selling. It was checked against central and Tamil Nadu government sources, the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and the oil companies' own notices in October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice; have a lawyer read any lease before you sign.
Leasing land for a solar plant
Most small solar leases in India have come through Component A of the PM-KUSUM scheme of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Under its guidelines:
- Size: plants are 500 kW to 2 MW, preferably within 5 km of an electricity substation, so land near a substation is what developers look for.
- Kind of land: barren or uncultivable land is preferred. Farm land is allowed only with raised panels and enough space between the rows for farming to go on (MNRE FAQ).
- How much land: MNRE's guidelines say a 1 MW plant needs around 4 to 5 acres.
- The lease: it is an agreement between you and the developer, on terms you both agree. Rent can be fixed per acre per year or per unit of electricity produced.
- Paying the rent: you can ask for the electricity distribution company to pay the rent straight into your bank account before the 5th of each month, out of what it owes the developer.
- How long: the power purchase agreement runs 25 years from when the plant starts, so expect a lease at least that long.
What owners have been paid: in December 2025 the government told the Rajya Sabha that farmers can earn up to ₹80,000 per hectare a year by leasing land under Component A, about ₹32,400 an acre, and ₹25,000 an acre a year under the feeder-level Component C (PIB, 16 December 2025). These are upper figures; your rent depends on the developer and the site.
Where the scheme stands now: MNRE's office memoranda of March and September 2026 extend the deadlines only for projects whose power purchase agreement or notice to proceed was signed or issued by 31 December 2025, with completion by 31 March 2027 and no further extension. A next phase, PM-KUSUM 2.0, has been mentioned but not notified. In Tamil Nadu, the electricity regulator's February 2025 order recorded one farmer's 1 MW plant under Component A and said the land must be in the farmer's name. Check the state's PM-KUSUM portal before you count on the scheme.
Land use: no Tamil Nadu order exempts solar plants on farm land from change of land use. Ask the developer, in writing, which approvals the site needs, and make the developer responsible for getting and paying for all of them in the lease. Outside master plan areas, Tamil Nadu's change of land use rules (DTCP rules page) charge 3% of the market value fixed for stamp duty to convert farm land. See agricultural land conversion in Tamil Nadu.
Leasing land or a terrace for a mobile tower
First, the fraud warning. The Department of Telecommunications says some companies and individuals "cheat general public and collect money by promising them hefty monthly rental" for towers (DoT advisory, 5 August 2022):
- DoT and TRAI do not lease land for towers and do not issue "No Objection Certificates" for them.
- Licensed telecom and tower companies do not ask owners for any money.
- Fraudsters ask for a "security deposit", "application fee", "registration charges", "stamp duty" or "government tax", then disappear (DoT notice, May 2022).
- Report such offers to the police, the cybercrime helpline 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in (TRAI, August 2025).
Only licensed telecom operators and registered infrastructure providers install towers. DoT publishes the list of infrastructure providers. Large tower companies such as Indus Towers let owners register their land on their website or helpline, and they call back only if an operator needs a site in that area.
What the law says. Under the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and the Telecommunications (Right of Way) Rules, 2024, in force from 1 January 2025:
- Consent and agreement: a company needs your prior consent and a written agreement before it enters your land or building.
- What the agreement covers: how and when it enters, the rent or other payment, how damage will be repaired or paid for, and safety, including structural safety.
- Registration: it may be registered if you both decide to.
- Safety certificate: for a tower, the company must file the details and a structural engineer's safety certificate on the government portal before work starts.
- The tower stays theirs: it is not part of your property, including for property tax, and the company gets no ownership right in your land, only the right to use it.
- Removal: you can give notice to remove or move the tower for a reasonable cause. The company must send a plan within 30 days and finish within 90 days, at its cost.
- If you refuse: the company can apply to the District Collector, who decides on public interest after hearing you.
Tamil Nadu has told all departments and local bodies to comply with the 2024 Rules (letter of 29 September 2026). Under the state's building rules, a tower is a structure, not a building, and can stand on a plot or a roof. A Registered Structural Engineer's safety certificate is needed, and the rules make both the owner and the engineer liable for it.
Radiation: India's limit for tower emissions is one-tenth of the international ICNIRP limit (DoT study paper). Anyone can check a tower's compliance, or ask for a measurement for ₹4,000, on DoT's Tarang Sanchar portal.
Leasing land for a petrol bunk
Oil companies take land for company-owned outlets by buying or leasing it, and they advertise when they need it. In August 2026, Indian Oil invited owners at 339 locations in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to offer land on sale or lease, with applications due by 15 October 2026 (IOCL land notices). HPCL ran a similar Tamil Nadu notice that closed on 7 October 2026 (HPCL land notices). Watch these pages for the next call.
What the notices and the oil companies' dealer selection brochure ask for:
- Size: in the IOCL 2026 notice, most locations needed at least 35 m by 35 m (224 locations) or 20 m by 20 m (86 locations). Smaller plots can be considered inside city limits.
- Position: the plot must touch the road's boundary, with no other land, even government land, in between, and must meet the advertised frontage and depth.
- What rules a plot out: it must not be notified for acquisition, and no high-tension line above 11 kV may cross it. Highway sites must meet NHAI norms.
- Conversion: farm land must be converted to non-agricultural use at the owner's cost.
- Papers: the owner arranges the clearances, such as the conversion and an encumbrance certificate.
- Lease term: it varies by notice: at least 15 years with renewal in IOCL's 2026 notice, 19 years 11 months preferred in HPCL's, and 29 years in an older BPCL notice. You state your expected monthly rent in your bid.
- Co-owners: where the land has several owners, every co-owner must sign the lease. Otherwise it is invalid.
- Brokers: the IOCL notice says "Brokers / Property Dealers need not apply".
Leasing land for farming
Letting someone farm your land is common, but Tamil Nadu law gives farming tenants strong protection:
- Who is a tenant: under the Tamil Nadu Cultivating Tenants Protection Act, 1955, a "cultivating tenant" is anyone who farms another's land with their own or their family's labour under a tenancy agreement, written or oral. That includes a tenant who stays on after the agreement ends.
- Eviction: such a tenant cannot be evicted except on four grounds: rent not paid within a month of falling due, damaging the land or giving up farming, using it for non-farm purposes, or wilfully denying your title. Even then you must apply to the Revenue Divisional Officer.
- Still in force: the Supreme Court applied this Act in a May 2023 judgment.
- The record: under the Tamil Nadu Agricultural Lands Record of Tenancy Rights Act, 1969, an entry in the approved record of tenancy rights is presumed to be true until proved otherwise.
So an informal arrangement to let someone farm can become a protected tenancy. Speak to a lawyer before you let anyone cultivate your land, keep the terms in writing, and check your patta and chitta regularly.
Registering the lease: stamp duty and fees
A lease from year to year, for more than one year, or with a yearly rent must be registered under section 17(1)(d) of the Registration Act, 1908, and oil companies ask for a registered lease deed. The Registration Department's duty and fees table for a lease in Tamil Nadu:
| Lease length | Stamp duty | Registration fee |
|---|---|---|
| Below 30 years | 1% of the total rent, premium, fine and any advance or security deposit | 1%, up to ₹40,000 |
| 30 to 99 years | 4% of the total | 1%, up to ₹40,000 |
| Above 99 years or perpetual | 7% of the total | 1%, up to ₹40,000 |
Since 3 May 2024, a security deposit counts towards the total whether or not it is refundable (Indian Stamp (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2023). For example, a 25-year lease at ₹1,20,000 a year with no deposit totals ₹30 lakh of rent, so the stamp duty is ₹30,000 and the fee ₹30,000. Agree in the lease who pays them. Work out the charges with the Tamil Nadu stamp duty and registration charges calculator.
What to put in the lease
- The rent and the increase: the rent, how often it rises and by how much, when it is paid, and a deposit if any.
- Who gets the approvals: who obtains and pays for conversion, building and other approvals.
- Taxes: who pays property tax and any other charges.
- Insurance and damage: insurance, and how damage to the land is repaired.
- Ending the lease: what happens at the end, including removing panels, towers or tanks and restoring the land, and who pays.
- Early exit: the notice period, and what happens if the rent stops.
- Who signs: every co-owner, including every heir if the land was inherited.
Tax on lease rent
Rent from land used for farming is agricultural income and exempt from income tax under the Income-tax Act, 2025 (section 2(5)(a) and Schedule II), and leasing vacant land for cultivation is exempt from GST. Land leased for a solar plant, a tower or a petrol bunk is not being farmed, so expect that rent to be taxed, and ask a chartered accountant how to report it and whether GST applies. Companies paying rent may deduct TDS. See tax on rental income in India.
Lease out your land with Gmore
Gmore films your land professionally, including the boundary, the access road and the water source, lists it with the video and alerts people searching nearby when it goes live. They call you directly. You pay one flat fee, shown before you pay, and no brokerage. Lease out your land with Gmore, or, if you would rather sell, sell your land with Gmore.
Checked against MNRE's PM-KUSUM guidelines and statements, the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and the Right of Way Rules, 2024, DoT and TRAI advisories, the oil companies' 2023 brochure and 2026 notices, Tamil Nadu tenancy laws and the Registration Department's fee table in October 2026. Written by the Gmore team.
