TDR: Mumbai-like system missing in Bengaluru

Lack of digital bank makes scheme prone to misuse.

Bengaluru: Even as Bengaluru's civic body plans to give a big push to development rights certificates (DRCs), or TDR, issued in lieu of cash compensation for lands acquired for public projects, it has not put in place an online system to make the process transparent. Nor are these certificates provided in a digital format.

On the other hand, cities such as Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad have made the issuance and utilisation of DRCs public, besides creating a platform for its purchase. 

Experts feel the lack of transparency in Bengaluru is deliberate, as it provides avenues for misuse.

The absence of an online platform for transacting the DRCs, coupled with a lack of awareness among citizens about its market demand, is also making the scheme unattractive for many land-losers. .    

On two fronts, the DRC or the transferable development rights (TDR) scheme is gaining momentum in the city after a gap of about seven years.

First, the BBMP has started revalidating as many as 1,179 DRCs, worth over Rs 2,000 crore, which were issued long ago but never utilised due to a change in policy. Second, the civic body is undertaking several new road-widening projects, including Varthur Road, Kothanur Road, and SV Road, which require land acquisition under the TDR scheme.

In addition, the Supreme Court recently directed the BBMP to issue TDR as compensation to the erstwhile royal family of Mysore for the acquisition of about 15 acres of land on Ballari Road as well as Jayamahal Road. This is equivalent to giving permission to construct a total built-up area of about 32 lakh square feet.

No marketplace

While the IT city will soon be flooded with development rights certificates (DRCs), which allow developers to build beyond the permissible floor area ratio subject to restrictions in a particular location or area, the BBMP has not created an online marketplace with a bank of unused DRCs that builders can buy directly from land-losers. In the absence of this, the land-losers will not receive the actual value.

For perspective, the official websites of Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad civic bodies offer far more information related to DRCs while the online portals of BBMP and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) are of no help.

In Hyderabad, for instance, the website has a TDR bank, a TDR ledger with a summary of transactions, and a feature where citizens can purchase them.

Mumbai provides real-time data on the DRCs issued, utilised and available for purchase. Similarly, Pune has made available DRC numbers, types, holder names, total area and contact pages, among other details.

A reliable source said that many road-widening projects of the BBMP are stalled because the land-losers are not accepting the TDR, even though it offers twice the built-up area that was acquired.

"TDR is an attractive compensation, but its market in Bengaluru is unorganised and fully controlled by a cartel. The land-losers will not get true value because they are clueless about the demand. In Mumbai, unused DRCs are made public, and anyone can offer to buy," the source said.

Kari Gowda, IAS, Deputy Commissioner (Land Acquisition and TDR), said there had been a discussion about issuing digital TDRs along with other facilities. "We will shortly come up with a system," he said.

N Jayaram, Commissioner of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), did not respond to calls.