Mumbai FSI : Old wine in new bottle

By Dr Sanjay Chaturvedi

We know that last CM had ordered and GR to this effect was issued that FSI of 33% will be sold by state government on ready recknor rate which will reduce TDR applicability to 67% instead of 100%.

Nothing is new. The current CM and BMC commissioner had cancelled the GR and now coming up with the same rules. The greed of state government is not stopping them just to reduce the TDR usage and charging premium on compulsory FSI enhancement but now they want to charge even the spaces like flower beds, common areas, lift wells which were not counted in FSI. The government don’t wan’t to give anything free to the poor home purchaser. They want to charge premium on all such items which were never part of FSI. The government want these to be included in FSI or pay premium on such usage.

The free spaces which were never part of FSI now are subject to premium to be paid by developer to state government. The FSI was 2.25 previously also only difference is 0.25 was free and never counted in FSI. Now state government wants to recognise the free spaces and let developers pay to them. The government has forgotten that the charges will be passed on to actual buyer and making the realty more costly now. How can you include lift wells and staircases to part of FSI?

The new norm that distance between high rise buildings and open spaces and restriction on plot size for high rise is just to force occupants of C and D ward to go for cluster development. The specification for such redevelopment already exists in DCR of BMC. The redevelopment of old and dilapidated buildings and structure in south Mumbai are hot cakes which is watering the mouths of politicians and few builders lobbying the government for redevelopment in the name of cluster development. The politics between Property Owner’s Association and builders of South Mumbai is reaching a new height when later are winning the scores between them.