It’s too late to make changes, say developers

The civic corporation’s directive asking 11 mega-projects to fall in line with the new public parking norms, which restrict the height of such towers and levy a premium for incentive floor space index (FSI), is unlikely to go down well with developers.

The civic corporation’s directive asking 11 mega-projects to fall in line with the new public parking norms, which restrict the height of such towers and levy a premium for incentive floor space index (FSI), is unlikely to go down well with developers.

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The decision can potentially impact big-ticket residential and commercial towers in central Mumbai, most of which are being constructed on erstwhile mill lands in Parel, Sewri, Worli and Dadar. So far, 27 such projects have been cleared under the public parking policy, of which 11 have been granted the commencement certificate (CC).

These projects got the CC from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) before the policy was amended, and many developers like Lodha group, India Bulls, DLF, DB Realty, and Kohinoor have begun construction.

Rajeev Talwar, group executive director, DLF, dubbed the latest development an unfortunate step. “If the civic body wants to make changes, let them do so for new projects,” he said.

Aseem Gupta, additional municipal commissioner, told HT that the meeting had been called to hold a discussion with the developers on the issue. “Other than restricting the height of parking lots, we have also asked for more entries and exits to ensure that they are used by citizens. The city will have to live with these assets for the next 70 to 80 years,” he said.

Gupta, however, admitted that three developers, including Kohinoor and DB Realty, have refused to make any changes to the parking lots.

A senior state government official in the chief minister’s office told HT, “If the projects have not got the final occupation certificate, the BMC is well within its rights to ask developers to make changes or pay premium, especially since everyone knows that this is in public interest.” (With inputs by Naresh Kamath)