Citizens can now buy FAR by paying premium in Karnataka

Three years after it was proposed, Karnataka has decided to introduce ‘premium’ floor area ratio (FAR) that citizens will have to buy to construct additional floors on their plots over and above what is permissible.

The premium FAR is expected to bring revenue to the government while also giving a fillip to vertical growth in the real estate sector.

The government has promulgated the Karnataka Town and Country Planning (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 that allows civic agencies or planning authorities such as the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to grant permission for premium FAR in areas identified for that in the master plans.

Those who want premium FAR will have to pay “one-third of the estimated increase in value of land and building,” the ordinance states. The permitted FAR carries no fee.

FAR is the ratio of the total plot area to the total building area and is determined by the size of the plot and width of the road in front of the plot.

Currently, only Mangaluru City Corporation is selling premium FAR in its limits. According to the existing Bengaluru master plan, the maximum permissible FAR is 3.25.

The premium FAR was mooted in 2017 in the draft common zoning regulations brought out by the urban development department. The government’s plan was to make it mandatory for all urban local bodies to use revenue earned through the sale of premium FAR for road development works.