In South India, land is often measured in ground and cent rather than bigha. Both are standardised, so they're easy to convert.
Cent
- 1 cent = 435.6 sq ft
- 100 cent = 1 acre
- Common in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra/Telangana.
Cent is essentially one-hundredth of an acre, which makes acre conversions simple: 50 cent = half an acre, 25 cent = a quarter-acre.
Ground
- 1 ground = 2,400 sq ft
- Common in Tamil Nadu (especially Chennai) for residential plots.
- 1 ground ≈ 5.5 cent.
A "1.5 ground" plot is a very common house-plot size in Chennai (about 3,600 sq ft).
Quick reference
| Unit | Square feet | In gaj |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cent | 435.6 | 48.4 |
| 5 cent | 2,178 | 242 |
| 1 ground | 2,400 | 266.7 |
| 1 acre | 43,560 | 4,840 |
The related unit: ankanam
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana you'll also see ankanam: 1 ankanam = 72 sq ft.
Convert instantly
Use the free converter: cent to square feet, ground to square feet, cent to gaj, or the full Land Area Converter. See also land units in India explained.