The Indian Express 26.03.2013
Civic market redevelopment policy approved; to be lucrative for builders
BMC's market redevelopment policy, tabled more than a year ago, was finally approved by the civic improvement committee on Monday with changes to make it more lucrative for builders. BMC proposes to charge builders lower premium on the sale component of the redeveloped market. Also, the civic body will not levy any charge on fungible FSI for the purpose.
The policy, which was tabled more than a year ago before the improvement committee, was sent back to the administration half a dozen times by corporators over the issue of premium to be paid by developers. Corporators had claimed that the premium was high, making it non-viable for developers.
The redeveloped market would be divided into three parts — resettlement area for licenced vendors, built-up area to be handed over to the BMC and built-up area to be used by the developer for sale.
The premium will be calculated on the ready reckoner land rate, which is significantly lower than the commercial ready reckoner rate. The existing urban development policy gives redevelopment an FSI of 1.33 to 2.5, depending on the year the market was built. The BMC-builder FSI ratio is 1:0.6 for markets in the island city and 1:1 in the suburbs, irrespective of market price.
"The redevelopment process of 25 civic markets had been halted over three years ago as builders claimed that incentives were not lucrative. We passed the original proposal of the administration after ensuring that the policy is lucrative not only for builders but also benefits BMC," said Ram Barot, improvement committee chairman and BJP corporator.
The premium on the sale component is calculated on the basis of the nature of construction. If residential, then 100 per cent ready reckoner rates are levied, if commercial, then premium is 200 per cent and in case of industrial, it is 125 of the ready reckoner rates.
BMC has 92 municipal markets, a majority of which are in dire need of repairs. They are broadly classified into three categories. Eighteen municipal markets fall under Category I, for which the civic body has issued Annexure II (the eligibility list, where a minimum 70 per cent consent from the tenants is needed for redevelopment). However, since the existing policy does not help BMC generate revenue, a new formula was devised for 25 markets under Category 2, where Annexure II will be issued as well. Crawford Market is in this category. The markets to be redeveloped include the ones at Andheri, Colaba and Khar.
