FSI changes in Hyderabad

FSI Changes in Hyderabad - What it will mean to supply ????. Only after a detailed analysis of the government order will the impact of the change be known. Read this interesting from Deccan Chronicle dated 12/02/08.


Hyderabad, Feb. 11: Reliance’s 100-storey tower and a signature structure of similar elevation by Lanco Hills are among several ambitious projects likely to come to nought with the state government’s move to reintroduce height restrictions based on Floor Space Index. Besides the Lanco and Reliance projects, the Tishman Speyer-led consortium’s proposed 400-acre integrated township at Tellapur will also be hit.
The government had last year removed limits on building height calculated by FSI. Official sources told this correspondent that the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, had asked the municipal administration and urban development department (Maud) to reintroduce FSI and cap it at 1:2.5. The Chief Minister said there had been several complaints about unlimited building height leading to congestion and environmental problems.
The sudden U-turn by the Chief Minister has come as a shock not only to developers but officials as well. Sources said even Maud was clueless on the policy change, which builders have termed a retrograde step. While introducing new building rules recently, the department scrapped FSI and said built up space would be determined as per set backs and road width. It also allowed unlimited height if the plot abuts a road at least 100 feet wide.
Under FSI mode, the built up space permitted is based on the area of the land where the construction is made. With FSI at 1:2.5, builders will get only 22.5 sq. ft for every square yard of land. “In real terms, the built up space will be even less because the government intends to include common areas and balconies also in the FSI,” a senior official pointed out.
The 100-storey Reliance tower is planned on less than 30 acres. With FSI, a building of that height would have to be built on at least 40-50 acres of land, the official said, adding that the Lanco Hills project faces a similar problem. The proposed IT parks in Gachibowli and Raidurg where Delhi-based BPTP Ltd plans 60-floor structures, a 30-storey residential project at Bachupalli, mall and entertainment centres by Prestige and Parsvanath Developers at Kukatpally and DLF’s hotel project will all be affected by the height restrictions.
“The government said scrapping of FSI was revolutionary,” a top city realtor protested. “Agencies like Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, Hyderabad Urban Development Authority and AP Housing Board touted it as their USP while selling land for hundreds of crores.”