Law change and TDR concession: how Maharashtra hopes to push redevelopment in Mumbai airport funnel zone

Strict height restrictions hamper the redevelopment of areas such as Santacruz, Vile Parle, and Kurla because developers tend to avoid projects in which they cannot utilise the full potential of the plot. This could go now – but the key lies in the details of the concession.

The height of buildings in Mumbai airport’s funnel zone is capped in order to ensure safe landings and takeoffs. (Express file photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Written by: Sweety Adimulam

4 min readMumbaiMar 28, 2025 01:14 PM IST First published on: Mar 27, 2025 at 06:32 PM IST

The Maharashtra government has introduced a new provision in the building development rules to facilitate the redevelopment of old structures located within the “funnel zone” of Mumbai airport, where restrictions on the height of buildings apply.

The change in the Development Control and Promotional Regulations (DCPR) 2034, announced by Deputy Chief Minister and Housing Minister Eknath Shinde in the Assembly on Wednesday (March 26), will impact buildings in neighbourhoods such as Santacruz, Vile Parle, and Kurla.

Essentially, owners or builders who cannot utilise the full Floor Space Index (FSI) of the plot because of the height restrictions that apply in the area, will receive equivalent construction rights that can be used elsewhere in the city.

FSI or Floor Area Ratio (FAR) is the maximum construction that is allowed on a plot, calculated as the ratio of the total built-up area to the plot area.

Here’s how the concession will work.

The area: funnel zone

A funnel zone is the airspace around an airport’s runways and aircraft approach paths within which the height of buildings is capped in order to ensure safe landings and takeoffs.

The strict height restrictions hamper the redevelopment of these areas in Mumbai because developers tend to avoid projects in which they cannot utilise the full potential of the plot (FSI). The restrictions also discourage self-redevelopment by owners.

Anand Gupta, vice president of the Builders’ Association of India (BAI), explained that for private development in the suburbs, FSI is typically allocated based on road width – roads that are 9-12 metres wide have an FSI of 2.7, and 12-18-m and 18-27-m-wide roads have FSI of 2.97 and 3.24 respectively. Roads wider than 27 m are allowed an FSI of 3.375.

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Since most existing buildings in the funnel zone are 4-5 storeys, with a basic FSI of 1 consumed, redevelopment could technically allow more than double the built-up area. However, strict height restrictions (e.g., 8-9 floors close to the flight path) prevent the full utilisation of FSI.

The concession: TDR

Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) is a mechanism in the real estate sector that allows the transfer of unused development rights from one property to another. TDR is similar to FSI, and is often considered to be a type of FSI.
TDR enables developers to construct beyond the permissible FSI limits as per the zoning regulations of a particular area. Shinde has announced TDR concessions for redevelopment in the funnel zone.

So, if a housing society or developer cannot fully utilise the permissible FSI or premium FSI due to height restrictions imposed by aviation rules, the unused development rights can be transferred to another location where construction is permitted.

This special provision, which will ensure that redevelopment in the area remains viable despite regulatory constraints, will be introduced in the DCPR 2034, Shinde told the Assembly. The Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, will be amended to support this change.

The upshot: what next?

Real estate stakeholders have welcomed the announcement but are awaiting clarity on how the relaxation will be implemented — for example, reduction in premiums for open space deficiency, exempting parts of the building from the calculation of FSI, converting unused FSI to TDR, whether it can be sold directly in the market or utilised in another project, or merged, etc.

The final framework will determine how effectively the redevelopment of the funnel zone can move forward.

Gupta recalled that similar relaxations had been given for the redevelopment of old ‘cessed’ buildings on smaller plots in South Mumbai. In some cases, the basic, zonal FSI could also not be consumed, and the government allowed the available FSI to be merged with other projects by the same developer or by another developer within a radius of 10 km, which is quite substantial. Gupta said he looked forward to a similar model for the funnel zone redevelopment.