BENGALURU: In over four months after rolling out the Premium Floor Area Ratio (PFAR), the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has received over 15 applications to build additional floors, and has fetched over Rs 150 crore in revenue.
Officials from the GBA’s Town Planning department said that as of now, only big builders have applied for PFAR and that in the coming days, they are expecting applications from small building owners. Experts opine that if PFAR isn’t applied in a balanced manner, there will be more stress on the civic infrastructure.
PFAR is aimed at paving the way for higher-density developments and optimal utilisation of high-value land within Bengaluru limits. The GBA rolled it out in December last year, permitting additional built-up area, where developers can acquire over and above the permissible FAR by paying a premium to the government.
“From December till now, we have received over 15 applications. We have collected over Rs 150 crore in revenue,” a senior official from the department said.
The official said that they are confident of receiving more revenue and they could easily mop up the Rs 2,100 crore target set by the five city corporations. “It is pertinent to note that the present figures reflect only the initial phase of implementation. As the market stabilises, a significant increase in applications is likely, particularly from projects that have remained constrained over the past decade due to inefficiencies and delays in the Transferable Development Rights (TDR) regime,” said advocate Prashanth Mirle.
PFAR, being a more direct and commercially predictable mechanism, is expected to divert demand away from TDR, which has already been affected by administrative bottlenecks and delays in issuance and utilisation, he said.
Mirle also pointed out that the existing base FAR in several zones is already at the upper end of planning tolerance, and any additional loading through PFAR, without a demonstrable and proportionate augmentation of supporting infrastructure, may lead to over-densification.
Civic activist and founder-member of Bengaluru Praja Vedike, NS Mukunda, questioned if the city is ready to take civic stress arising out of PFAR. “Bengaluru’s poor infrastructure has been getting exposed often. PFAR must be calibrated with the existing road capacity, water supply, capacity of the sewage lines, traffic and other factors. Imagine there is a population of 5,000 in a square kilometre. Through PFAR, if the population is more than doubled suddenly, what would happen,” he questioned.
Both Mirle and Mukunda said that if PFAR isn’t applied in a balanced manner, there will be more stress on civic infra and also warned that if TDR demand diminishes due to PFAR, the government would be compelled to resort to direct acquisition, thereby increasing financial liabilities.