MMRDA will dangle FSI carrot to pvt land owners

The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) has decided to promote its rental housing project in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region in a rather unique way. Floor space index (FSI) is an incentive that the authority will give to private land owners.

Explaining the idea, Milind Mhaiskar, additional metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA said that since most part of the rental housing project is going to be implemented on the outskirts of the city, the project will need support from private land owners. “The concept is that if a private land owner wants to implement a rental housing project, the authority will give him an FSI of 4. The only condition the MMRDA has is that out of the total FSI of 4, the owner will have to keep FSI of 1 reserved for rental housing. For the rest of the 3, he is free to utilise it for commercial or residential purpose,” he said.

This means that if one has to develop 1000 sq mt of land, he will avail 4,000 sq mt of total buildable area. Out of this, he will have to keep 1,000 sq. mt for rental housing. The MMRDA has planned to create a stock of 5 lakh houses in next five years.

According to Mhaiskar, though the government has taken initiative for various housing schemes in last few years, it is not possible for it alone to meet the demand of affordable houses in Mumbai and the metropolitan region. “That is why we are trying to induce private participation in rental housing. If more private operators come forward to build rental houses, the government can create a stock without having to spend from its pocket,” Mhaiskar said.