Date:14/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/14/stories/2009011455100600.htm

Tamil Nadu

Expert committee rejects proposal on premium FSI

A. Srivathsan

CHENNAI: The expert committee on development regulations of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) that met on Monday rejected the proposal to allow premium Floor Space Index (FSI) within city and recommended that it be allowed only in the suburbs.

One of the members of the expert committee told The Hindu that “the premium FSI within city limits is not workable as the city is already dense. When the premium FSI favours a particular plot, the consequences are felt by the adjacent plots and the street on which it is located. So it is not a matter of single building but that of the entire neighbourhood. The city does not have adequate infrastructure to take this premium FSI.”

According to an official, another member of the expert committee also suggested that infrastructure of the city needs to be improved before premium FSI is proposed. The proposal was to make premium FSI available not only to future buildings but also to the existing ones. “Allowing Premium FSI even to existing buildings within city would only worsen the situation. It can be allowed only in the suburbs and that too after improving the infrastructure”, the member said.

The Government of Tamil Nadu had earlier returned the CMDA’s recommendation not to allow premium FSI within city for reconsideration. The FSI is the index that determines the maximum permissible built-up area in a given plot. It is a ratio between the total built-up area and the plot area. The permissible FSI in the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) is 1.5 for ordinary buildings and 2.5 for multistoried buildings. The proposed premium FSI allows for additional built-up area over and above what is permitted by the development regulations for a fee.