Mumbai New Development Plan Cleared, Paves Way For More Land

Under the new plan, a higher Floor Space Index means developers will be able to build more on a given plot.

Image used for representation.

(Photo: Reuters)

Policymakers have paved the way to develop Mumbai vertically.

The Mumbai Development Plan 2034 approved by the Maharashtra government increased the floor space index, or the extent of development allowed on a piece of land, for both commercial and residential buildings, according to officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Town Planning Department present at a press briefing by Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta on 26 April.

FSI In Island City

• Residential: 3
• Commercial: 5

Earlier: 1.33 across commercial and residential projects.

FSI In Suburbs

• Residential: 2.5 Vs 2 earlier.
• Commercial: 5 Vs 2.5 earlier.

FSI is the ratio of the total area to the built-up area.

A higher FSI means developers will be able to build more on a given plot.

And that usually happens by adding floors. Mumbai, already ranked the world’s second most crowded city, is home to nearly 2 crore people.

A higher FSI had been a demand of the industry for long, Niranjan Hiranandani, managing director of the Hiranandani Group, told BloombergQuint.

We’d been saying that instead of selectively increasing FSI for slum rehabilitation, redevelopment of hotels or IT parks, you should increase it universally on the lines of what the government of India had been projecting. I think it’s a positive outcome that we have brought the FSI up to three.

Niranjan Hiranandani, MD, Hiranandani Group to BloombergQuint.

Anuj Puri, chairman at property consultant Anarock, said those who want to sell their large land parcels will benefit.

The FSI in those land parcels has gone up; consequentially, the value will have gone up.

Anuj Puri, chairman at property consultant Anarock to Bloomberg Quint

One key change from the earlier plan is that FSI has now been linked to the width of the road, Nitin Kareer, principal secretary of urban development for the Maharashtra government told BloombergQuint.

“Wherever you have road width, you'll get higher FSI. Obviously there’ll be little more FSI available in the island city than in the suburbs. It will depend on the existing infrastructure.”

(This story was first published on Bloomberg Quint)