Revised TDR scheme linked to guidance value of land

State cabinet clears scheme, govt to also amend KTCP Act

 The State government has linked the revised Transferable Development Rights (TDR) scheme to the guidance value of land fixed by the government in order to prevent its misuse while transferring a TDR.

Under the revised scheme, cleared by the State Cabinet on Wednesday, the guidance value of a property, for which TDR is issued, will be considered as the base value for transferring or selling the rights. For example, a person purchasing a TDR of 500 sq ft at Sadashivanagar in Bengaluru, costing about Rs 10,000 per sq ft guidance value, will get up to 1,000 per sq ft to build, say at Nagarabhavi, where the guidance value is Rs 5,000 per sq ft.

Similarly, a TDR of 500 sq ft purchased at Nagarabhavi (at Rs 5,000 per sq ft) will be treated as 250 sq ft if it’s used at Sadashivanagar (at Rs 10,000 per sq ft).

The government will soon amend the Karnataka Town and Country Planning (KTCP) Act, 1961, to give effect to the revised scheme, wherein the value of TDR has been increased to 2.5 times from 1.5 times the total land surrendered. The scheme applies to only city corporations, including the BBMP.

“The guidance value-linked TDR has been introduced to prevent its misuse. Under the old scheme, the TDR was not linked to the guidance value. There used to be no change in the development rights anywhere in the city at the time of transfer.

Hence it was misused in several cases. Those who bought TDRs from the city outskirts (where land prices were low) used them in prime localities of the city (where the land price was high),” said S B Honnur, Director, Directorate of Town and Country Planning.

The scheme was introduced to enable Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) such as the BBMP to take up infrastructure projects without paying monetary compensation to landlosers. Moreover, the ULBs were unable to pay compensation as the land prices were high. But the scheme met with stiff resistance from people, especially in Bengaluru, as there was no demand for TDR. So, the government has now come up with a revised scheme by bringing in a number of changes.

Besides, the power to issue TDR under the new scheme has been handed over to the Urban Development Authorities (UDAs) such as the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and the Local Planning Authorities. Hitherto, the urban local bodies were the TDR-issuing authority.

Honnur, who was also heading an expert committee set up to draft the revised scheme, said a proposal had been submitted to the government to establish a regulatory authority to assist people in selling or purchasing the TDR.

The regulatory agency will not only act as a platform for buyers and sellers, but will also help ULBs and UDAs to issue the TRDs, he added.

The expert committee has recommended to the government to reduce the maximum permissible Floor Area Ratio (FAR) in Bengaluru in order to create demand for the TDR scheme.

FAR up to 3.25 is allowed in Bengaluru, as per the BDA master plan. Instead of 3.25 FAR, the committee has recommended a “premium FAR” up to 1, which can be bought from the respective UDA, and allowing FAR up to 1 for those who buy TDR.