A year after it first mooted the proposal, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has doubled the permissible developable area for its plots in BKC.
MUMBAI: A year after it first mooted the proposal, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has doubled the permissible developable area for its plots in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).
As a result, FSI on commercial plots has gone up from 2 to 4 and on residential plots to 3 from the present 1.5. Depending on the plot size one could construct up to 17 floors.
But it will be some time before developers are able to avail of the benefit of double floor space. The Union civil aviation ministry has not yet eased the building height restriction of 37m or 11 floors. However, there may not be many takers for the additional floor space because anyone wanting to purchase additional space on their plot will have to shell out approximately Rs31,000 a sq ft. Developers are finding this price, which is close to the Rs31,769 a sq ft paid by Jet Airways for a 24,000 sq m commercial plot, too high.
As per the development control rules framed for BKC, the MMRDA decides the development potential of a plot. The MMRDA does not sell land but the area in square feet that can be developed on a plot. The MMRDA hopes to raise at least Rs25,000 crore by selling floor space of about 30 hectares in the market. “Who would buy floor space at this exorbitant rate?” said Jayeesh Shah, managing director, Naman Developers.
“I would not. It makes more sense to purchase a plot. I would have bought it if the prices had been fixed at a reasonable cost.” Naman has purchased a residential, hotel, and three commercial plots at BKC.
“The price the MMRDA is asking for the additional space is too high. It is like selling Transfer of Development Rights. I am not going to buy the floor space,’’ said Kamal Khetan, managing director, Suntek Group. Suntek along with Indiareit, a fund set up by the Piramal Group, is developing a luxury apartment complex on a 1.75 acre plot. The group also recently bought two 7,050 sq m residential plots for a record Rs32,680 a sq ft.
Milind Mhaiskar, joint metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, however, said, “Why should the price be different? We sell plots at BKC on built-up area and not land. It would, therefore, be irregular if we priced this additional floor space lower.” The height restriction would not be an issue as developers have to independently take the civil aviation ministry’s nod for their projects, he said.
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