Government likely to double FSI to 1.66, Fadnavis nod awaited

CMO officials said the move came in the wake of demands from the realty sector at the recent ‘Housing For All’ conference in Nagpur. At the conclave, developers urged that they be allowed to construct more as a trade-off for the state’s recently announced plans to increase the premium charged for such FSI.

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It was in March 2008 that the state government under the then CM, Vilasrao Deshmukh, first introduced the concept of 0.33 premium FSI to reduce builders’ dependence on relatively expensive Transfer of Development Rights (TDR). However, while TDR supply at any point is limited under 5 lakh sq m, an additional 0.33 FSI translates in to 30 million sq m of built-up space in the 300 sq km developable space in suburbs.

Until now the amount charged from developers for use of the extra FSI was linked to the 2008 ready reckoner (RR) rates. Last month, the state government proposed to rationalise the rates in order to link it to RR rates of the year the FSI is allotted. “For instance, if a developer purchased 0.33 FSI in 2012, he will now have to pay up the extra amount as per that year’s rates instead of the much lower 2008 rate that he had paid,” said an official from the CMO.

He added that the proposed rate hike, corresponding to an annual RR rate increase of 10 per cent, had led to demands from developers that the premium FSI should be increased so as to make their projects viable. “Moreover, this will lead to additional revenue for the state government and also bring in more housing supply in the market,” the official added.

Architect P K Das, however, said the monetisation of the urban planning tool of FSI would be detrimental to the city’s infrastructure. “All evidence so far have shown that allowing more construction has never led to falling of prices. The deficiency in affordable housing cannot be addressed unless the state makes it mandatory that the size of homes constructed meet the demands of the city,” said Das.

shalini.nair@expressindia.com