The Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI), today called upon Maharashtra government to make operational the amended provisions of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act to offer an additional 0.33 Floor Space Index (FSI) on premium to developers.
MCHI's president, Sunil Mantri, has requested for a personal hearing to the chamber before the Maharashtra chief minister Prithiviraj Chavan in the presence of the BMC commissioner and secretary-urban development to resolve this issue.
In a letter addressed to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad, Mantri said that neither any step is taken to permit 0.33 FSI nor any direction given to the municipal corporation to grant occupation certificate where the developers have purchased this FSI from the government and constructed buildings thereafter.
"This has caused tremendous hardships and frustrates the intention to curb the rising prices of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) in the hands of a cartel. This is despite the ordinance issued by the governor of Maharashtra in September 2010, amending Section 22 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966," Mantri said in a statement issued in Mumbai.
The MCHI president also cited the opinion of senior counsel KK Singhvi suggesting that the government can go ahead with the 0.33 FSI scheme without inviting objections and suggestions to amend Development Control (DC) Regulations.
The FSI allowed by the local civic authority decides the quantum of construction (in terms of square feet) a builder can make on a given land.
Singhvi in his opinion to MCHI had stated, "After the issuance of the ordinance dated September 21, 2010, state government or the planning authority can levy premium for grant 0.33 FSI."
The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and the state government are losing Rs10-crore per day due to non-implementation of this scheme.
Mantri has requested the chief minister to call an urgent meeting of the principal secretary, urban development, municipal commissioner and the MCHI to resolve the issue.
It will also help to bring down prices of TDR in the Mumbai region, he said.
"Our suggestion is that the whole policy be made applicable to entire Maharashtra so that all municipal corporations will benefit out of the premium collected for TDR," Mantri said.
