Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis. (Express Photo by Ganesh Tendulkar)
The Maharashtra government has restored the permissible floor space index (FSI) levels to the current level in Mumbai’s sanctioned new development plan.
On June 29, the Chief Minister-led Urban Development (UD) department had issued a notification incorporating changes in this regard.
As per prevalent development control regulations applicable in Mumbai, an FSI of up to 2.5 is permissible for building in the suburbs. FSI, also known as Floor Area Ratio, is a development tool that defines the extent of construction permissible on a plot. It is the ratio of built-up area to the total plot area. An FSI of 1 for building on a 10,000 square metre plot, would provide a builder a construction right of 10,000 square metre. In other words, a builder developing a suburban plot can presently build up to 2.5 times the plot size.
But regulations contained in Mumbai’s new development plan, which was sanctioned by the state government on May 8, had lowered this FSI to just two times the plot size, leading to fears in the construction industry. But on Saturday, the state government issued a corrigendum to the sanctioned plan for restoring the existing FSI level. The government also restored the policy of linking the width of the road in front of a plot to the paid FSI (transferable development rights) that can be purchased from the open market. A TDR of up to 1 will now be available for utilisation for suburban construction depending of the road width.
Senior state officials also indicated that the formula for compensation in the form of FSI for development of public reservations on private properties on the accommodation principle is different in the prevalent plan and the sanctioned new plan. In the supposed hurry to sanction the plan at the earliest, officials admitted that contradictory versions on how FSI is to be computed on a plot have been introduced in certain sections.
Another major change introduced on Saturday in the newly sanctioned plan is permission granted for the development of plots reserved for Metro rail or Monorail car sheds or workshops under the accommodation reservation principle, where a private party can hand over 50 per cent of the reserved plot in built-up form and avail full development rights over the remaining 50 per cent plot area. The state government has also provided the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) the right to decide the ancillary land use that can be permitted for such reserved plots in the new plan. A new reservation for the development of a National Law University has also now been proposed in the sanctioned plan. Even this has been permitted to be developed under the accommodation principle.
The state government has also clarified that FSI computations for all provisions in the new DCR would be on the basis of net plot area remaining after excluding the plot area reserved for a public amenity or road widening. Earlier, for certain provisions, the sanctioned plan had mentioned that the FSI could be calculated on gross plot basis. While the sanctioned new plan was originally supposed to come into effect from June 22, the government had declared that its implementation was being kept in abeyance till September 1. Sources said that this was mainly to correct the discrepancies and blunders noticed in the sanctioned plan. On Saturday, the government made 42 changes in all to the new development control regulations. Another 29 changes were made to the proposed land use in the new plan.
In what might hit construction activity on plots fronting narrow roads, the government has withdrawn special powers granted to the commissioner to consider permitted highrise over 70 metres on plots situated between two existing roads each having a width of 6 metres. In order to avoid pencil thin skyscrapers, the government has adopted a policy of limiting construction on plots abutting plots less than 9 metres wide.
Mumbai municipality’s share of premium collected from developers for availing additional FSI has been reduced to 25 percent from 50 percent as proposed originally in the new plan. Meanwhile, in a policy shift, the government has permitted sharing of land area on a 50:50 basis for amenity plots on private lands more than 2 hectares. Construction rights availed in lieu of handing over built-up amenity plots to the municipality can now also be utilised in the form of TDR.
For the redevelopment of Dharavi, the government has clarified that the Chief Executive Officer of the Dharavi Redevelopment Authority will have full powers of shifting or interchanging public reservations with the slum cluster without consultation with the municipal commissioner. The government, meanwhile, has retained the power to decide whether Dharavi redevelopment project contract should be allotted on tendering or engineering procurement contract basis.