The Indian Express           07.10.2013 

Govt hikes FSI for redevelopment of old buildings in MHADA colonies

Following a spate of building collapses in Mumbai and Thane, the
state government has cleared the decks for redevelopment of 5,000-odd
old and dilapidated buildings in colonies developed by the Maharashtra
Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).

Raising stakes for redevelopment, the state government has hiked
the floor space index (FSI) for such projects from 2.5 to 3. FSI defines
the extent of construction permissible on a plot, and is the ratio of
the built-up area to the area of the plot.

On October 5, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan granted permission
to the state urban development department to modify the development
control (DC) regulations in this regard. Sources said the department
will now issue a final notification confirming the change in norms in
the next few days. It had earlier called for suggestions and objections
regarding the proposed modifications in May.

Besides higher FSI for redevelopment, the revised norms will
offer bigger rehabilitation areas for tenants, while linking the
developer’s incentives and MHADA’s share in the redevelopment to the
plot’s market value.

According to the new norms, while tenants in an individual
society were entitled to 35 per cent additional area on redevelopment,
the area incentive will increase by another 15-45 per cent on
participation in an integrated development scheme involving a bigger
plot size. The minimum plot size to avail the additional benefit must be
over 1 hectare, an official said.

A senior official said 56 of the 104 MHADA colonies were situated
on large plots. The idea was to encourage cluster redevelopment on such
plots for better infrastructure and planning, the official added.

An additional 15 per cent area will be offered to tenants if they
opt for a development or a joint venture agreement with MHADA. The
draft notification issued in May had proposed a 10 per cent area
incentive.

However, officials said it was decided to raise this to 15 per cent on the basis of suggestions received.

To rein in fraudulent practices by builders to lure tenants, the
government has imposed a cap of 861 sq ft as the maximum rehabilitation
area that can be offered to tenants, excluding the balcony portion.

The developer’s incentive and MHADA’s share in surplus built-up
area has been linked to market rates to make projects in lesser
developed pockets viable. The incentive FSI offered to developers will
range from 40 per cent to 70 per cent, taking into account the ready
reckoner (RR) rates and construction cost.

Meanwhile, the society’s share in the surplus area remaining
after the rehabilitation and the incentive component will be 30-45 per
cent, whereas MHADA will retain the remaining built-up area.

For new low-cost housing schemes taken up by MHADA, the FSI has been hiked to 3.

Move to check TDR misuse

Concerned over the exploitation of transfer of development rights
(TDR) certificates, the state government has plans to link its usage to
the market value of the plot.

A discussion regarding indexing the TDR took place at a meeting
convened by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on October 5. Chavan
reviewed various housing projects, including rental housing and the
special township scheme.