Various associations of real estate developers and architects on Friday said the step would escalate housing cost by around 30% and is “against the spirit of housing for all”
The state government has reduced the upper limit of base floor area ratio (FAR) for housing on any land to 1.2 times of the plot size with effect from January 1. Base FAR is the maximum floor area land-owners can construct without paying any extra cost to the government. Earlier, the available maximum FAR limit was 1.5 to 2.75 times of the plot size, depending on the width of the approach road to the plot.
According to the Odisha Transferable Development Right Rules 2015, notified by the housing and urban development department on December 28, landowners wanting to construct extra floors will have to buy transfer of development rights (TDR). TDR is construction rights – twice the landowner’s actual land rights – to be given to those whose land is acquired by the state government for new township projects and utilities such as roads and drains. One can buy or sell TDR from others at a benchmark value, a price decided by the government. The government is planning to create TDR under the Odisha Development Authorities Act instead of paying monetary compensation to land-losers who are agreeable to this.
Various associations of real estate developers and architects on Friday said the step would escalate housing cost by around 30% and is “against the spirit of housing for all.”
Addressing a joint press conference, office-bearers of the Association For Odisha Real Estate Developers (AFORD), the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, the Association for Odisha Real estate Developers and the Indian Institute of Architects said the move to drastically reduce the free FAR would sound the death knell for the real estate industry. The developers have to buy construction rights from third parties, which would escalate costs, they said.
“The government unilaterally reduced the FAR drastically without taking feedback from various stakeholders. This will spur horizontal growth, which is not desirable for a city like Bhubaneswar where population density is very low,” said AFORD president Umesh Patnaik.
Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) vice-chairman Krishan Kumar said the government has called a meeting of the developers on Saturday. “We will seek their constructive suggestions for consideration of the government. The government is for equity and not profiteering in land for housing,” he said.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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