Now, shell out 20 times more for increasing FAR

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 29

Increasing the floor area ratio (FAR) will cost industrialists and owners of commercial properties in the city nearly 20 times more as the UT Administration has decided to link the charges with the current collector rates on the basis of the formula adopted in the case of educational institutes.

Sources said the Finance Department of the Administration, in a letter to the Estate Office, had clarified that the formula used for fixing charges for additional FAR, notified in May 24, 2018, in the case of Goswami Ganesh Dutt Sanatan Dharam College, would now be applicable to all categories — commercial, industrial, social, religious and educational — in Chandigarh.

Besides, it will also be applicable to different categories as decided by the Urban Planning Department from time to time.

As per the letter, the FAR amount is to be charged in four yearly instalments with 12 per cent interest — either 100 per cent may be taken upfront within 15 days or 20 per cent will be taken within seven days and the rest 80 per cent in four annual instalments with 12 per cent interest. FAR is the ratio of the total area of the building floor to the area of land it is built on.

The new rates have created panic among property owners, who said this would kill the industry and trade. As per the new rates, industrialists will now have to shell out Rs 80 lakh for increasing FAR from 0.75 to 1 in the case of a two kanal plot, which was earlier only Rs 4.50 lakh.

What is FAR

FAR is the ratio of the total area of the building floor to the area of land it is built on. The new rates have created panic among property owners, who said this would kill the industry and trade. 

Increasing FAR from 0.75 to 1 (industrial plots)

Plot area Current rates New rates

1 kanal Rs 2,25,000 Rs 38,25,000

2 kanal Rs 4,50,000 Rs 76,50,000

3 kanal Rs 6,75,000 Rs 1,14,75,000

4 kanal Rs 9,00,000 Rs 1,53,00,000