Govt may raise floor space index in A'bad

Gujarat's realty seems to be heading upwards. In what maybe a strong indication from the state government, minister of state for urban development, Nitin Patel, showed willingness to raise the floor space index (FSI) in the R2, R3 and other zones in the city.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on 'Mega City Infrastructure - A Perspective' organised by the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI) and Gujarat Institute of Housing and Estate Developers (GIHED), Patel said, "The only way left for the real estate business is vertical development. With shortage of land, only high-rises now remain viable business prospects. With strong representations from the developers, we are willing to look into the matter of raising the FSI."

Highlighting the land scarcity, Patel said, "There is such a huge space crunch that we will have to make the optimum use of the space available. After a few months, we need to think where will we park our Nano?"

On the other hand, former chairman and managing director of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (Hudco), PS Rana urged developers to shun creating artificial scarcity of land.

"A healthy competition in real estate will be visible when prices of commercial properties are less than residential. Currently, developers are creating artificial scarcity of land since demand for commercial properties is high. They need to shun it," he said.

According to Jaxay Shah, former president of GIHED, raising the FSI from the current 1.8 to 2.5 or 3 will allow developers to develop more properties vertically, bringing the material costs down by 30-40 per cent.

"It will eventually allow the developers to pass down the effect to customers through reduced prices," Shah added.