Boost for building revamp in Mumbai’s suburbs

In a significant move ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, the Maharashtra government has decided to extend the incentive of more floor space index (FSI) to the suburbs. This is expected to pave the way for redevelopment of about 10,000 old and dilapidated tenanted buildings in suburban Mumbai.

The state government on Tuesday issued a draft notification to incentivise the redevelopment of old and dilapidated tenanted properties in Mumbai’s suburban areas by increasing permissible construction limits and providing ownership to the tenants residing in old structures for years. The tenanted building will get FSI (which determines buildable area on a plot) required for rehabilitation of the existing tenants and an additional 50% FSI as incentive that will help make the redevelopment profitable for developers after giving the tenants free tenements.

Similarly, for plots occupied by tenanted and non-tenanted buildings, along with the FSI required for rehabilitation of the existing tenants, the developer will get 50% FSI and the FSI already utilised by the non-tenanted buildings while developing the existing structure in the past.

However, in exchange, the government has decided to charge ‘development cess’ for the built-up area and above the permissible FSI — something that will increase cost for the developers. In the suburbs, the permissible FSI is 1 and for consuming more FSI for redevelopment, the developer or tenants of the cooperative societies will be charged Rs5,000 a square metre as development cess.

Significantly, the government has also declared the cut-off date for considering tenants as eligible for the new policy, which means tenants post June 13, 1996, will not be considered eligible for the rehabilitation policy and they will not be able to get its benefits.

The draft notification issued by the state urban development department on Tuesday says 70% consent of tenants will be mandatory for redevelopment of the old dilapidated buildings. Further, each tenant will become eligible to get minimum 300 sqft carpet area tenement free of cost. The maximum size of the tenement will not be more than 753 sqft. In case the carpet area exceeds, the cost of the construction shall be paid by the tenant. For non-residential occupier, the area to be given free of cost in the redeveloped building shall be equivalent to the area occupied in the old structure.

According to a rough estimate, suburban Mumbai has around 10,000 old and dilapidated structures which are going to get benefited with this decision. The draft notification will be now put in public domain for a month for suggestion and objections. The final notification will be issued after making necessary changes, said a senior official from the urban development department.