Thursday 6 March 2014

FSI and FAR Norms for residential building construction across India

The land measurement terminology differs across states in India. In many states, the measurement terms for an Acre differs. For Example,

a) In Assam, 1 Acre = 3 Bighas and 8 Chains
b) In Bihar, 1 Acre = 1 Bigha and 12 Kattas (or) 32 Kattas (or) 100 Decimals
c) In Haryana, 1 Acre = 4 Bigha and 16 Biswa
d) In Himachal Pradesh, 1 Acre = 5 Bigha
e) In Jharkhand, 1 Acre = 3 Bigha or 100 Decimals
f) In West Bengal, 1 Acre = 100 Decimals
g) In Odisha, 1 Acre = 100 Decimals (in Cuttack area) and 1000 Decimals (in Bhubaneshwar area)

Local terminology used for measurement of land in various States in India (common terminology is Hectares/Acres for Village Properties and Square feet or Square mts for city Properties in most states in India). But in realty, local terminology is used for land measurement in many States in India and the names of these local terminologies predominantly used for village/rural area Properties (apart from Acres are) : 

Tamil Nadu - Hectares/Ares (locally the word cent is mainly used in many Districts for land measurement).
Puducherry - Cawnie/Kuzhi/Centiar/Veesam
Kerala – Cents and Square feet
Andhra Pradesh – Guntas and Sq.yards (in few Districts in AP, land is measured by the term Anganam)
Karnataka and Maharashtra (Rural areas) – Guntas
Gujarat – Hectares/Ares/Guntas and Sq.mts/Sq.yard for city Property
Odisha – Decimal
Bihar and Jharkhand – Katta and Decimal
Assam – Katha, Bigha and Lessa
Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh – Bigha
Rajasthan – Bigha and Biswa
Haryana – Bigha, Biswa, Biswani, Kanal and Marla
West Bengal – Decimal, Cottah, Sadak and Bigha

Note: 1 Hectare = 2.471 Acres or 100 Ares
          1 Acre = 43560 Sq.ft (in some states, 1 Acre = 43636 Sq.ft)
          1 Sq.mts = 10.76 Sq.ft

All States do not follow a common policy as bench mark for Building Construction. In Some states, FSI (Floor Space Index) is used and in some States FAR (Floor area ratio) is used.

FSI (Floor Space Index) = Built up area allowed in proportion to land holding extent
FAR (Floor Area Ratio) = Gross Floor area/Area of the Plot
                                           (Gross Floor area is the total floor area on all floors of a Building)

There is no great difference between FSI and FAR

In FSI, Maximum Plot coverage ratio will not be mentioned separately per floor but whereas in FAR, Plot Coverage ratio will be separately mentioned per floor

Plot Coverage ratio = Maximum built up area at any floor X 100%
                                   Plot area

Examples

1) Maximum Permissable FSI = 1.5

For 2400 Sq.ft of land, when max Perm FSI is 1.5, maximum constructed area shall be 2400 x 1.5=3600 Sq.ft (FSI will not specify Floor wise construction). This total extent can be constructed in any number of floors subject to road and building height restrictions. (say the entire 3600 Sq.ft can be constructed in any number of floors in any manner subject to road extent and height restrictions- say 1600 Sq.ft in Ground Floor and 2000 Sq.ft in First Floor (or) 1000 Sq.ft in Ground Floor,  1500 Sq.ft in First Floor and 1100 Sq.ft in Second Floor)

2) Maximum Permissable FAR = 1.5, Maximum Plot Coverage ratio = 75%

For 2400 Sq.ft of land, when Max Perm FAR = 1.5, maximum constructed area of building shall be 2400 x 1.5 = 3600 Sq.ft. However when maximum Plot coverage ratio is mentioned as 75%, then the building built up area can't exceed 75% area of the total area in each floor which means that not more than 1800 Sq.ft can be constructed in each floor.

In short, under FSI concept, maximum Floor area extent (per floor) will not be separately mentioned (however the total built up area on all floors should not exceed the maximum permissible limit) but in FAR, the maximum built up extent per floor will be calculated and clearly mentioned and one can't exceed that limit for each floor. 

FSI/FAR Norms followed for Residential Buildings across India

In India, FSI is used in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat
FAR is used in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan

Maximum permissible FSI limits for residential purposes
Tamil Nadu - 1.5
Maharashtra - 1.33 (lowest in India)
Gujarat        - 2.00 (However in Gujarat, in certain earth quake seismic zones, FSI is very low)

(However separate premium FSI of 1.00 is available on payment on extra fees in Tamil nadu and Maharashtra subject to compliance of many conditions like road width, plot area etc). For Group Housing and Multi Storied Housing, additional FSI is permitted under certain norms)

Maximum Permissible FAR limits for residential purposes 
It differs from State to State in India. It depends on the maximum permissible height of the building as well and various other parameters like road width, plot area, density of population etc. (For Group Housing and Multi Storied Housing, additional FAR is permitted under certain norms)  
Assam - FAR ranges between 1.75 and 2.00
Delhi - 2.00 (for new Co-op societies) and 3.50 (for plot area exceeding 175 Sq.ft provided only 4
                                                                             Floors height with 15 mts building can be constructed)
Haryana - FAR ranges between 1.00 and 1.45
Himachal Pradesh - Between 1.50 and 1.75
Karnataka - Between 1.00 and 2.50 (2.50 FAR for Group Housing above 0.80 Hectares of land)
Kerala - Between 2.00 and 2.25
Madhya Pradesh - Between 0.75 and 2.00
Odisha - Between 1.00 and 2.75
Rajasthan - Between 1.20 and 2.40

In Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, density of population is also taken into account for calculation of FAR like in Karnataka, FAR differs between thickly density area, moderate density area and sparse density area and in Madhya Pradesh, FAR differs between Gross Residential Density persons per Hectare. 

Additional Information

FAR (Floor Area Ratio) term is also used in Canada and United States of America.
The term Plot ratio (which is almost similar to FSI), is used in parts of Australia, Singapore and United Kingdom

Shyam Sunder
Advocate, Chennai
09841136901

(Shyam Sunder - Author of Book titled `Property registration, land records and Building Approval Procedures followed in Various States in India- First of its kind Book being Published in India)

Book available in:
Flip Kart (Online)
Land Mark (in all major cities in India)
Chennai – Sitaraman & Co (044-28111516, 28117069), Higginbothams and Odessey
             Sri Vidya Devi Publishers (044-24936193/9841136901)
Coimbatore – Odessey (Brooksfield Mall)
Bangalore – MPP House (080 – 41136866, 22260706)
Hyderabad – Asia Law House (040 – 24742324)
Mumbai – Students Book Centre (Snow White Publishers – 022 – 22050510/22080668)

The Hindu – Habitat (Property Supplement) – 14th Dec, 2013 - Book Review

Economic Times – 4th Dec, 2013
Only a few states follow good property registration procedures: G Shyam Sunder
G Shyam Sunder, a Chennai-based advocate, points out to the benefits of standardising procedures.
This article can also be accessed if you copy and paste the entire address below into your web browser.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news/only-a-few-states-follow-good-property-registration-procedures-g-shyam-sunder/articleshow/26851644.cms?intenttarget=no&mailtofriend=yes

Times of India – 1st Dec, 2013

The New Indian Express – 21st Nov, 2013

Business Line – 23rd Nov, 2013

Nanayam Vikadan – 15th Dec, 2013 (leading Tamil Financial Weekly)

Dinamalar – 19th Nov, 2013, 19th Dec, 2013 and 12th Jan, 2014 http://www.dinamalar.com//district_detail.asp?id=852526&dtnew=11/19/2013

7 comments:

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  6. Thank you for sharing great information.This total extent can be constructed in any number of floors subject to road and building construction height restrictions.
    Building contractor magazine

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