FAR 5 to boost vertical growth

In a bid to boost vertical development, the state government has proposed to increase the floor space index or floor area ratio (FSI/FAR) up to level 5 for both commercial and residential buildings situated close to transit corridors.

Floor area ratio (FAR) is the ratio of a building’s total floor area (gross floor area) to the size of the piece of land upon which it is built.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) on Wednesday unveiled the draft Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy and invited public comments for the document, which will complement the Revised Master Plan 2031.

The TOD policy seeks to classify urban areas by their proximity to transit corridors of BMTC buses, Namma Metro and the proposed 161-km suburban rail.

FSI will go up by 50% in intense zone (500 metres from transit corridor) and 25% for standard zone (500 to 1,000 metres) for plots above 1000 sq metres on or above 18-metre wide roads. The hike is 20% for plots of less an 100 sqm and located below 18 m roads.

The proposed FSI ranges from 2 to 5, depending on the size of the plot and the road and seeks to encourage vertical growth and wider open spaces in the form of setback areas. With this, properties along the Metro, suburban and bus corridors will benefit from the new policy.

“The policy seeks to bring a new approach to urban development by encouraging density of population to push for sustainable growth of the city by integrating land use and transport. It recognises that mobility is an enabler of economic activity,” BMRCL managing director Ajay Seth said.

While adopting vertical growth as its mantra, the draft policy, however, notes that changes will be necessitated in the policy on transferable development rights (TDR). “The TDR generated outside TOD zone shall not be allowed to be used within TOD zone,” it observes.