Redevelopment: CREDAI pats BMC, asks for extra FSI in Pune too

MUMBAI: CREDAI – Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India – today welcomed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s announcement that the redevelopment projects in the City will not be covered under new DC rules for levying extra premium on FSI for certain areas.
CREDAI national president Mr Lalit Kumar Jain appreciated the announcement as a practical and “pragmatic step” and called for Pune Municipal Corporation taking a cue from Mumbai.
While Mumbai is showing pragmatism, it is said that Pune, hardly in two-and-a-half hour drive away from the metropolis, is imposing restrictions on FSI for development, Mr Jain said.
Recently, PMC decided not to allow extra FSI for redevelopment projects which Mr Jain termed as a retrograde step. “This will not help urban development process. Allowing redevelopment of dilapidated buildings with concessions like an extra FSI is a must. Otherwise, old buildings will begin to crash, and people will die for no fault of theirs,” he said.
Appealing to PMC is to rethink and permit an extra FSI so that developers will come forward and participate in the process of redevelopment, Mr Jain said: “We must learn lessons from Mumbai experience.”
Mumbai allows an FSI up to 3 for redevelopment projects and Pune should allow a minimum FSI of 4 instead of the present FSI of 2, he said.
Under redevelopment schemes, developers construct and give flats free of cost to existing tenants or owners and sell the property built with the extra FSI that they get. This creates a win-win situation for all concerned, apart from reducing the burden on the government of providing shelter to the needy.