With Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis having announced plans of making a “special dispensation” in Mumbai’s development plan for buildings facing height restrictions owing to their proximity to the airport or defence installations, a contentious proposal for permitting the transfer of even extra floor space index (FSI), available on payment of premium to the municipality, is being considered. Contending that the height restrictions had impacted the viability of redevelopment of affected properties, Fadnavis had earlier announced that his government was considering a proposal of conferring additional building rights for such redevelopments in the form of transferable development rights (TDR), along with relaxations in town planning norms, during a discussion of Mumbai's new development plan in the state legislature earlier this month. While this is the first time when a state has proposed concessions for buildings impacted by restrictions around the airport and defence land, government town planners have cautioned this could lead to densification in other pockets of the city. FSI is a development tool that defines the extent of construction permissible on a plot. It is the ratio of the buildable area to the total plot area. The TDR, on the other hand, is nothing but a virtual building right or floating FSI provided by the municipality, which can be utilised on another plot. It is mainly granted in lieu of area surrendered for development of public reservations or used for rehabilitation of slum families. The proposal which is being considered is to grant TDR for the entire unutilised development potential of such properties — including the basic FSI of a plot, the entire paid FSI including the premium FSI component, and the compensatory (fungible) FSI. At present, the sole instance when a TDR is permitted in lieu of loss of development rights is for grade-I and grade-II heritage properties. But officials pointed out that for heritage properties too, the compensation in the form of TDR is only offered for the plot’s basic and incentive FSI components.
