TDR is in, cash is out

TDR is in, cash is out
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The Government has finally given its approval to the Bangalore City Corporation’s (BCC) Transferable Development Rights (TDR) proposal and issued a notification on January 18 to this effect.

Here, development rights are issued to the property owner instead of monetary compensation for the property acquired.

This method has been in practice for over a decade in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad, will be implemented in all proposed land acquisitions for BCC’s projects.

Here is how it works. TDR involves BCC first notifying the programme of public works for which it needs to acquire private property. The owner can then voluntarily opt for TDR or go the regular way of claiming compensation.

If TDR is opted for, BCC issues a Developmental Rights Certificate (DRC) for the property it acquires for public works.

The DRC entitles the owner to claim the enhancement in Floor Area Ratio (FAR) proportional to the property surrendered up to a limit of 60 percent of the existing FAR. Which means the owner will be given land at any other area in BCC limits.

The DRC will be issued free of cost but the owner has to surrender the property free of cost.

DRC can be used as floor area credit on any other property in BCC limits, can be sold to third party and can be inherited. Even the building setback norms are relaxed upto 50 percent to realise floor area credit. But the FAR enhancements will not override the existing zoning laws and any court orders.

The limitations of the DRC are that it cannot be used on any property abutting a road less than 12 metres in width and cannot be used in a zone which is more developed than the one in which the acquired property lies.

Which means that if you obtain a DRC by surrendering a property in Vijayanagar, floor area credit cannot be claimed on MG Road. But the reverse is allowed.

BCC Commissioner K. Jothiramalingam is upbeat about the new scheme, which will be implemented in the corporation’s forthcoming road-widening projects on 45 roads.

“This mechanism has worked well in many cities in India and in Mumbai DRCs are even traded like shares. This would entail huge savings in compensation money and at the same time give the property owners their due,” he said.

However, with rampant violations of FAR stipulations, it is yet to be seen how Bangaloreans respond.