Raging debate over new rule ‘hiking’ FSI Island City’s Base FSI Rises From 1.33 To 1.79: Experts

Mumbai: Has the state government hiked Mumbai's floor space index (FSI) under the guise of streamlining the building approvals system?Many in theconstruction industry said by allowing developerstoutilize 35% compensatory FSI to residential projects and 20% to commercial buildings in exchange for a premium, the state government has, in fact, increased it. FSIdefineshow muchcan bebuiltupon a plot. 

    Some experts suggested that the base FSI of 1.33 in the island city is now around 1.79 while the suburban FSI of 2 is now 2.7 following the grantof compensatory FSIunder the new policy approved by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan early thisweek. 
    But municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar saidthecompensatory FSIofferedin lieuof premium will not increase the build-up area. "The total construction area will remain the same," he said. The BMC's contention is that developersusedtoearlier blatantly misusecertain areas of a building like flower beds, voids, car decks, pocket terraces, which were not part of the FSI. The new policy stipulates that these areaswouldbeincludedin theFSI andthecorporation would be charged a premium of 60% of the ready reckoner rates for land for residential buildings and 100% premium for commercial buildings. 
    Housing expert Chandrashekhar Prabhu is one of those who said the new policy had increased the city's FSI. "Earlier, it was surreptitious, now it is upfront," he said. "The BMC claims technically it's not an increase because builderswere always misusing thesespaces." 
    Property consultant Ashok Narang said by increasing the FSI, the BMC has become a partner in profit sharing with the developer to legalize the building. "FSI has increased by 35% for residential and 25% for commercial units. However, it is only for those developers who want to utilizethecompensatory FSI," hesaid. 
    Architect Sanjay Devnani said, "There is no doubtthatitis an increasein FSI,butdonewith a noble intention to check errant builders. The 35% increaseofferedfor residentialbuildings also includes 10% of balcony, which was available earlier, according to the rules. The balance 25% is to create a level playing field for all as the errant builders who had the guts to illegally cover flower beds, voids and niches,whichwerefreeof FSI as per earlier rules." 
    But another architect, Manoj Daisaria, said the new ruleshave nothikedtheFSI. "Thedevelopmentcontrol regulations,1991, permitted10% balconyfreeof FSIover and abovethe permissible FSI. There were several features such as entrance lobby and enlarged lift lobbies, passages, which were permitted by charging premium along with flower bed, nitches, sun decks etc. as elevation features," he said. "These areas worked out to 25% to 30% of the building's area, someof whichwere misused aswell." 
    "The modified policy permitscompensatory FSIby paying premium andhence,therewill not be any increasein FSI," he added.