AAI decides to give clearance to buildings up to 50 floors in Navi Mumbai

Building projects with more than 16 floors will now get No Objection Certificates for the same. This decision will pave the way for more high-rises in the city. Navi Mumbai can now have buildings as high as 50 floors.

In a major relief to the real estate sector in Navi Mumbai, the Airports Authority India (AAI) has agreed to give clearance to buildings taller than 55.10m AMSL (Average Mean Sea Level).

The decision to give clearance to buildings up to 50 floors in Navi Mumbai will bring in a major real estate boom in the city which has been hit since 2018. (BACHCHAN KUMAR/HT PHOTO)

Building projects with more than 16 floors will now get No Objection Certificates for the same. This decision will pave the way for more high-rises in the city. Navi Mumbai can now have buildings as high as 50 floors. The decision will bring in a major real estate boom in the city which has been hit since 2018, when the restriction to cap the building height to 16 floors was imposed.

On Saturday, Sanjay Mukherjee, CIDCO managing director and vice-chairman, tweeted about the crucial decision taken by AAI to shift the Airport Surveillance Radar 1 (ASR1) to Dhakale Island from the present site near DPS Nerul.

“The location of the ASR1 was the major issue with the AAI imposing height restriction in the entire city from 2018. But, in a meeting convened on July 22 between all the stakeholders, it was decided to shift the location keeping development in view,” said Mukherjee.

“This will speed up the development in the region as we were facing difficulties in getting construction approvals and OC for various residential and commercial projects planned/ completed/ under-progress for more than two years. We were not even able to take the benefits of increased FSI provided under the Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations (UDCPR) as vertical development was not permissible beyond 16 floors,” said Haresh Chheda, president of CREDAI BANM (Builder Association of Navi Mumbai).

As per the aviation regulations, obtaining valid height NOC from AAI is mandatory prior to the grant of any construction approval by the local town planning authority. “The height restriction imposed since February 2020 within a 20km radius of NMIA was intended to avoid obstacles within the air space. But the restriction was turning out to be a hassle for development work in the city and recommendations were made to CIDCO to get the conditions relaxed,” said Chheda.

The height of the building will depend on the distance from the airport and whether these constructions are falling along the flight path or not.

AAI is likely to commence the NOC process within the first week of August. “This is a citizen-friendly decision that will pave the way for the smooth development benefiting the entire MMR region,” said Mukherjee.