In order to cope with the increased demand for housing, conserve land for agriculture and serve larger public interest, the Haryana Government has decided to not only increase the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for residential plots, but also introduce the concept of purchasable FAR over and above the existing permissible limits.
FAR is the ratio of a building’s total floor area (gross floor area) to the size of the piece of land upon which it is built.
An official spokesman said that purchasable FAR would be applicable only for licensed colonies and Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) sectors. The revenue generated through purchasable FAR will go to the concerned municipal authority for licensed colonies and projects in municipal areas. It will go to HUDA wherever it has to strengthen services due to increased density and shall be used for consequent development works that may be necessitated.
The benefit of additional FAR will be allowed after suitable amendments are made in the relevant Act or rules by the concerned authority. The ball will soon be set rolling for making necessary amendments in the relevant statutory provisions, the spokesman said.
FAR and ground coverage norms for the residential plots followed by the Department of Town and Country Planning were fixed way back in 1977. Need has been felt for revising them to cope with the ever-increasing demand for houses, especially in the urban areas, according to him.
Various representations, received from different organisations seeking revision of FAR or ground coverage norms, were considered genuine for two reasons: scarce land resource and the need to intensively utilise the urban land, so that land could be preserved for agriculture.
