Himachal relaxes floor area ratio for industries

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Monday announced an increase in the overall floor area ratio (FAR) for industrial houses.

The overall FAR for small-scale industries having plot area of 250 to 500 sq metres has been increased from .50 to 1.75, said a statement quoting the chief minister.

For services and light-scale industries having plot area of 501 to 1,000 sq metres also the FAR has been increased from .50 to 1.50. For large and heavy-scale industries that have plot area above 5,000 sq metres, it has been raised from 0.60 to 1.00.

The decision in this regard was taken by the chief minister at a meeting of the town and country planning department here.

It was also decided that the height of buildings for organised housing projects across the state would be increased. It would be now 25 metres in hill areas and 30 metres for plains.

"This would help promoters to achieve the permissible FAR and also to leave sufficient areas under parking and open spaces," it said.

The announcement said the government is also contemplating to further increase the height of buildings in organised colonies in plain areas subject to geologically stable strata in order to reduce the pressure on scarce land resources and to bring regulations at par with adjoining states to attract investors for bringing planned colonies.