SWATI RAMANATHAN!
JAN 2005
TRANSFER OF DEVELOPMENT
RIGHTS ! TDR
CONTENTS
This analysis of the Transfer of
Developments amendment and
proposed regulations to the Kar-
nataka Town and Country Plan-
ning Act, 1961, is divided into
four sections.
I. Development Scenarios
using TDRs
II. Pre-existing conditions re-
quired for successful im-
plementation of TDRs
III. regulations for the success
of TDR as a development
instrument.
IV. Additions and alterations
suggested to the proposed
regulations
JANAAGRAHA!
GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA, URBAN DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
COMMENTS ON THE PROPOSED
AMENDMENT AND REGULATIONS
SECTION 1: Development Scenario 2: a farmer is ap-
Scenarios using TDRs proached by developers with an at-
Scenario 1: the Opera House at tractive price for his land in the
Bommanahalli CMC limits. The
the end of Brigade Road is a historic
attraction of cash-in-hand over-
beautiful building which is in a di-
weighs considerations of loss of shel-
lapidated condition. It is in a prime
ter, produce and regular income gen-
retail location and the owner can sell
his land for a price that will make eration. There is also the fear that the
city’s growth will result in develop-
him very wealthy. Developers will
tear down the building and build a ment acquisition The sale takes place
hi-rise commercial complex that will and the developer monetizes the land
make them a tidy proÞt. to the maximum without considera-
The city will be poorer for it tions to existing valleys, wetlands or
though. A bit of history and a public
place of value will be lost. What if
the owner was instead given a Trans-
fer of Development Right for the
buildable square footage on his prop-
erty which he could sell just as he
would be able to sell his land? In re-
turn he would permanently “deed
restrict” the land and the land use.
He would also agree, as per the Heri-
tage TDR rules, to set aside a portion
of the funds from the sale of his tanks. This has environmental reper-
TDR for the renovation and mainte- cussions to the greater region such as
nance of the Opera House. ßooding, blocked drainage, depleted
A win for both the city and the ground water table, ecological distur-
owner. bance, etc, some of which will re-
Banagalore
 SWATI RAMANATHAN!
quire municipal expenditure on recti-
fying measures. For example, roads
subject to ßooding erode rapidly and
require frequent, expensive mainte-
nance.
What if the vulnerable areas
were deed restricted permanently in
exchange for commensurate TDRs to
the farmer. This can effectively pro-
tect ecologically and environmentally
sensitive areas permanently. Record-
ing conservation easements on their
property, villagers can access Þnancial
gain through Development Credits
which they can sell and be utilized in
speciÞc jurisdictions, without forfeit-
ing their land. The farmer continues
to farm his / her land while gaining
income from the sale of his develop-
ment rights which he can in turn put
to use on his farm. The city’s green-
belt Bellandur lake
can also be similarly protected.
The city preserves it’s sensitive areas
such as wetlands, valleys, etc. without
forcing the farmer to forgo develop-
ment proÞt.
Scenario 3: A property is in the
path of a proposal for a road widen-
ing by the BMP. The owner is forced
to give up his land either partially or
entirely for the project since it is in
the larger public good and the gov-
ernment has rights of “eminent do-
main”. In return he can either take
the rate prescribed by government for
compensation or perhaps accept an
alternative site under a current spe-
cial scheme. He has no choice on
location. The government has to use
up precious Þnancial resources to pay
for the acquisition.
What if the owner is given
TDRs that allow him to either sell it
to a developer that will give him
market rates (without paying stamp
duties as in the conveyance of land),
JANAAGRAHA!
or hold on to the TDRs in anticipa-
tion of price hikes in land and sell it
at this future rate just as he might
have sold his land. He can also
“mortgage” his TDRs for capital
with Þnancial institutions as he would
with his land.
SCENARIO 4: The residents of
Lottegolannahalli in the Bytrannpura
city municipality have no Post OfÞce,
public toilets, parks, playgrounds or a
single public space. The time, energy
and resources that the residents
spend on accessing basic facilities is
enormous. This results in a low qual-
ity of life and productivity for the
residents and also has an impact on
real estate values. The corporator
and commissioner express their in-
ability to address the residents’ re-
quirements. Every inch of land has
been sold and there is no site set aside
for civic amenities.
What if privately owned vacant
land can be identiÞed as suitable for
public amenity sites and the owner
given TDRs in exchange for the land.
This allows the owner to sell his
TDRs to a developer or use it on any
other property that he owns to build
additional FAR. The community gets
much needed public spaces.
In the past, government had two op-
tions to acquiring private land for
public use:
ACQUISITION IN THE PAST
Option One: to use eminent
domain which allows government
acquisition rights on any private land
in the interest of providing public
amenities, including housing. The
land owner has no choice in the mat-
ter. The government has a pre-
determined value for the land which
it pays as compensation for the acqui-
sition. This power is used in acquir-
JAN 2005
ing land in urban areas for construct-
ing ßyovers, etc and in the outer agri-
cultural areas to provide for housing
developments, industrial and tech-
nology corridors, highways, etc. The
owners lose out on the valuation at
the market rate and on accruing any
long-term beneÞts of increased
valuation. Options to individuals in
counteracting acquisition are limited
to preventive construction on their
land or using political inßuence in an
attempt to de-notify their property
from the acquisition process.
Option Two: government to
provide land at an alternative loca-
tion as in the case of slum reloca-
tions. This again has the issue of fair
compensation in terms of valuation
and the issue of locational dissatisfac-
tion with the compensated land.
As local political winds change,
so do the zoning policies evolved by
the development authorities. Moreo-
ver, as infrastructure evolves, the out-
lying areas to the city also become
more attractive to development.
TDRs provides an alternative to the
above two options. It has two
private land will be acquired for public
projects such as road widening, ßyovers, metro
rail, etc.
Banagalore
 SWATI RAMANATHAN! JAN 2005

advantages: • an efÞcient land pricing market

First, it allows government to
acquire land without using tax rupees
which are in short supply, and second
it mitigates / compensates the
“Taking” of private property for
public use in a manner that is more
fair to the owner.
As illustrated in the above sce-
narios, TDR is a powerful tool that
when used in the right manner works
to revitalize existing city centres and
neighbourhoods, preserves historic
landmarks, provides opportunities for
low-income housing, reduces the
burden on limited infrastructure ca-
pacity and encourages land use pat-
terns that promote a better quality of
urban living.
to arrive at values for TDRs
• a developer community that
functions “efÞciently” with the right
market incentives
• organised community partici-
pation that has a voice in the TDR
process for a particular site, either
sending or receiving, or even pur-
chase TDRs for their own resource
development
In India, none of the above is in
place which is a cause for cau-
tion in the use of a tool that can
be mishandled and misused.

However, to be successful, a
market for the development rights
must be created. This means encour-
aging both the sale and the purchase
of the development rights.
SECTION 2: Pre-existing con-
ditions required for successful imple-
mentation of TDRs
In a country like the USA, the
use of TDRs has been ongoing for
the last Þfty years and is now used in
25 States in a variety of ways. How-
ever, the country already had the
following factors in place which en-
abled the successful use of TDRs:
• a well developed land-use pol-
icy that is strictly enforceable, and
enforced
• a well deÞned zoning policy
that guides the development of a city,
directing development in desirable
directions
• conservation and preservation
policies for landmark sites, heritage
sites etc

JANAAGRAHA! Banagalore
 SWATI RAMANATHAN!
WHAT ARE THE MINIMUM
CONDITIONS THAT MUST
PRE-EXIST USE OF TDRS IN
KARNATAKA?
• LAND TITLE SYSTEMS
• LAND MARKET ASSESSMENT
• INTEGRATION WITH THE CITY MAS-
TERPLAN
• DEVELOPING THE MARKET
• DEVELOPING THE PROCESSES
SECTION II
MINIMUM CONDITIONS FOR THE SUCCESS OF
TDRS IN KARNATAKA
Ownership / tenure of land that is clear and absolute!
Land Titles
Unless ownership is litigation free, the process of veri-
Þcation will incur huge investment in human resources,
time and procedures. The Lack of land titling and registra-
tion that assures ownership results in an artiÞcial inßation
of land pricing. This was seen in the recent BDA site auc-
tions at Banashankari where land was purchased at twice
the estimated market value due to the clear titling.
Primary detailed, street-wise pricing data
Land Market Assessment
The type of TDRs issued in exchange for land or for
protective zoning will vary depending on the value of the
said land. In order to ensure that the valuation of land is
current and closely reßects the market conditions on the
ground, a comprehensive streetwise market value assess-
ment of land will be required within the city and area-wise
in the rural outskirts. The value of this assessment is three
fold: one, it allows an equitable and efÞcient exchange of
buildable land with TDRs; two, it aids in assessing the price
point where the Þnancial beneÞt of building to the maxi-
mum FAR allowance is too great for owners and developers
JANAAGRAHA!
JAN 2005
KR Market
to resist; three, it allows an impact analysis of changes
in TDR zoning and land use over time on land valuation.
However, true land market assessment is dependent on the
titling records as illustrated in the BDA example above.
LandUse and Zoning Plans e.g. CDP 2005 in Bangalore
Integ ration with the city master-
plan
A land use and zoning plan that incorporates the fol-
lowing:
! Sending Zones: identifying areas that will require the
use of TDRs such as heritage sites, environmental protec-
tion lands, areas that have density in excess of infrastruc-
ture & service capacity, mobility corridors that are con-
gested and require additional lanes, junctions that need
resolution, ßyovers or underpasses and neighbourhoods in
need of public amenities, etc.
! Receiving Zones: identifying areas where growth is
desirable. These areas must have easy access to utilities,
transportation, shopping, employment opportunities,
public services and existing development.
! Land Use: Mapping the ground realities vs. the pre-
vious Development plans will allow us to recognize land
use trends and zone realistically. Analyzing the areas
where land use change has been requested, as well as the
shift in land use patterns will be required in order to zone
Banagalore
 SWATI RAMANATHAN!
and price TDRs. Social and economic patterns often re-
sult in mixed use and must be accommodated in the
TDR process. In fact, TDRs can be valuable in encourag-
ing planned development. For example, in areas where
density restrictions are placing artiÞcial pricing barriers to
housing access and economic activity, zoning can be re-
structured and mixed use can take a planned approach.
TDR zoning can allow all residential housing in neigh-
bourhood centres additional restricted commercial FAR
through the purchase of TDRS. Similarly, commercial
areas can be allowed additional residential FAR to be
purchased through TDRs
Partnering with the Developer Community; the planning
authorities and the citizens!
Developing a Market for TDRs
Stakeholder identiÞcation for the success of TDR:
There are multiple stakeholders that will impact the success
of the TDR policy. Unless these are identiÞed and co-opted
from the start, the TDR will be an ineffective instrument.
Three key stakeholders are: planning authorities who will
incorporate sending / receiving zones into their compre-
hensive plans; developer community; citizens
Encouraging TDR exchange between urban centres:
this does not really fall into the category of a pre-requisite.
It is a strategy for making TDRs more ßexible and elastic
geographically. However, in order for this elasticity to Þnd
expression, integrated planning by multi-municipal plan-
ning & development agencies in identifying sending / re-
ceiving zones, etc. is a prerequisite.
SECTION III
Regulations for the Success of TDR as a Development In-
strument.
ENCOURAGING THE TDR MARKET
Since TDR success is driven by supply and demand, it must
motivate sellers to sell and buyers to buy. Successful imple-
mentation requires the following aspects to be considered in
the amendment to the act and its regulations:
I. Development plans such as the Revised Com-
prehensive Plan 2005 in Bangalore, must rec-
ognize the introduction of the TDR policy in
the following ways:
o Identifying areas where growth is desirable and to be
encouraged. Identifying areas where growth is undesirable
and needs to be restricted. Identifying areas of environment
JANAAGRAHA!
JAN 2005
and ecological concern. Identifying heritage sites and zones
for preservation.
o Assessing infrastructure capacity and growth capacity of
the existing city.
o Formulating zoning regulations and environmental
regulations restricting growth in the sending sites. Articulat-
ing regulations to relate allowable density to minimum in-
frastructure availability.
o Aid the process of estimating the buildable land square
footage / value in these sending sites that must be compen-
sated with TDRs
o Re-formulate Land Use Conversion policy so that ap-
plications are subject to far greater scrutiny on neighbour-
hood impact and involve local community input. The abil-
ity to change Land Use with ease is a current disincentive
to TDR purchase. There is no incentive to buy TDRs from
commercial sending sites if residential sites are cheaper and
are allowed greater FAR by easy land use conversion. Land
use must be combined with land price in assessing market
value of TDRs.
o Identifying receiving sites
! Receiving areas must be identiÞed such that they are
areas of sufÞcient demand for growth.
! The zoning must be designed such that higher den-
sity is allowed only through the use of TDRs. Developers
need to be encouraged to buy TDRs. If the allowable
density is already high enough in the receiving areas, the
developer has no incentive to purchase the TDRs. There
must be a clearly established proÞt-making beneÞt to the
developer in order to buy additional FAR.
! Developers are given the option to develop at a lower
FAR without the TDRs or buy TDRs and build at a
higher density. However, the density bonuses must be
high enough that the developer Þnds it cheaper to buy
development rights rather than land, however, not so high
that the development overwhelms the infrastructure ca-
pacity.
! Receiving areas must be capable of receiving more
than twice the TDRs generated by the sending sites to
reassure developers on the usability and marketability of
TDRs
! Inter-jurisdictional exchanges can become a key suc-
cess driver and can become an instrument in enabling the
regional growth plan. For example, TDRs in Bangalore
can be utilized in Udipi with an additional increase in the
FAR allowance. The increase can be decided collabora-
tively across the State with the local development
Banagalore
 SWATI RAMANATHAN!
authorities. A regional program will require an efÞcient
balancing between sending and receiving zones. The
planning authorities of all regional municipalities must
collaborate while designing their development plans. The
Metropolitan Planning Committees will require to be
formed and bring various agencies together.
II. Procedural aspects in the use of TDRs
o Designating a special zoning administrator for
facilitating TDR transfers is necessary.
o Ensuring predictable costs, time and development
approvals will boost conÞdence with the developer commu-
nity
o TDR facilitating staff that provides public infor-
mation and procedural help, instructional literature, etc
o Creating a TDR bank which buys and sells TDRs
therefore reducing the burden of validation and govern-
ment procedural hurdles
o Encumbrances on land
o Removing complexities in inheritance procedures,
transfers, sale, etc. of TDRs will increase acceptance with
the users
III. Facilitating Public opinion and support
o The Comprehensive plan is joined at the hip with
the TDR plan. Successful TDRs will require communities
to weave in their local area plans with the comprehensive
plans through TDRs
o These local and city / municipal plans must be
facilitated through discussions on environment protection,
heritage preservation, public spaces requirements and issues
of growth such as housing and commercial activity.
o Since the public is going to be affected by the re-
ceiving site increased density, this must be a consultative
process where neighbourhood communities are encouraged
to participate in identifying receiving areas, areas for pres-
ervation and requirements for public amenties
o The focus of development activities must priori-
tize receiving areas. If proper sanitation, water-supply,
transport, shopping etc is supplied in these areas, greater
density and development activities are made more attrac-
tive to both the community and the developer.
Additions and alterations suggested to the proposed
regulations
SECTION IV
JANAAGRAHA!
JAN 2005
One of the basic constitutional limitations on the
power to control land use is that it may not be used in a
conÞscatory manner. A landowner may not be deprived of
a reasonable return on or an equivalent private use of his
property. This basic constitutional protection applies even
in the face of legitimate public purposes served by the regu-
lations in question. In any given municipality, however,
there may be a number of planning goals which may be
inconsistent with -- using land in such a way as to enable
the owner to realize a reasonable return on his investment.
The goals may relate to preservation of open space, areas
of particular scenic or environmental concern, historic
structures and agricultural land. From a planning view-
point, the uses which ought to be made of such lands might
be strictly limited; but such limitations might, if imple-
mented, prevent the earning of a reasonable return by the
owner and might be held to amount to a conÞscatory "tak-
ing."
Transfer of development rights is a land use regulation
technique which can let the municipality have its cake and
eat it too. It can be used to ensure that the open space re-
quirements of the municipality's planning goals are met
without causing Þnancial burden to landowners or restrict-
ing needed development.
This section is divided into three parts:
RULES THAT ARE NOT HARMONIOUS WITH
THE ACT
COMMENTS ON THE EXISTING RULES
ADDITIONAL RULES AND COMMENTARY:
RULES THAT ARE NOT HARMONIOUS WITH
THE ACT:
1) Under S. 14 (b) Explanation, “public purpose” has
been deÞned to include
a) widening roads
b) providing parks& playgrounds
c) Maintaining heritage.
But in the draft rules, “public purpose” has not been
included to mean:
a) Rule 3 (i): it has been narrowed only to widening
of roads and for other public amenities which is mentioned
in Explanations (i) and (ii) of Section 14(b). The issue in
Explanation (iii) to Section 14 (b) has not been addressed in
the rules.
Banagalore
 SWATI RAMANATHAN!
COMMENTS ON THE EXISTING RULES:
The three zones namely; residential, commercial and
industrial zones have to be clearly deÞned.
Rule 5 (iv)- “revalidation fees”: It would be convenient
to have an higher transfer fees than validation fees because,
To make DPR marketable we need to create incentives
and not administrative hurdles
Since the revalidation fees will be prescribed by the
authority and changes periodically upon several considera-
tions such as zoning, ensuring the compliance of the same
would be complicated.
Rule 5(v) - “Normal transfer fees” has not been deÞned
in the act or the rules. Therefore the inheritance fee, which
is 10% of the normal transfer fees has to be clariÞed.
ADDITIONAL RULES REQUIRED AND SUP-
PORTING COMMENTARY:
( the italicized points in the commentary are supple-
mentary notes for the purpose of clarity)
1. Need for separate and SpeciÞc Statutory Authority
The Government shall appoint a special zoning ad-
ministrator for facilitating the issue of TDR.
Commentary: There is no speciÞc statutory authority
for enabling legislation for TDR. Since the Municipal
Commissioner is already overburdened with his duties, it
will be extremely ineffective if he/she is also the nodal per-
son for issuing a Development Rights CertiÞcate. This is
one of the reasons why the TDR legislation has become
ineffective in Mumbai. Therefore a separate administrative
body has to be created which shall be responsible for the
issuing of TDR.
2. Publishing annual programmes:
The authority shall publish annual programmes for all
infrastructure projects and for projects undertaken for the
protection of heritage sites for granting transferable devel-
opment rights. Notwithstanding this, in urgent cases the
authority may for reasons to be recorded in writing grant
development rights as and when considered appropriate
and necessary.
Commentary: If this data is available well in advance
then other authorities involved in urban development like
the Bangalore Development Authority can implement their
projects and calendar of events in an efÞcient manner.
3. Facilitating Land-Use Planning
JANAAGRAHA!
JAN 2005
a) The zoning shall be made in accordance with a
comprehensive plan The Comprehensive plan shall be
joined with the TDR plan.
Commentary: TDRs are regulatory tools designed to
facilitate land-use planning. Unlike most community com-
prehensive plans, the transfer of development rights re-
quires much more certainty of where development will
happen and where it will not. TDR programs do more than
preserve farmland, natural resources, and open space; they
change the way development occurs in a community. How-
ever, TDR programs cannot be established in the absence
of a comprehensive plan. Implementation of a TDR in the
absence of true comprehensive planning represents a fail-
ure to recognize that development credit values depend on
a stable and predictable real estate environment.
b) These local and city / municipal plans shall be
facilitated through community discussions on environment
protection, heritage preservation, public spaces require-
ments and issues of growth such as housing and commer-
cial activity.
Commentary: Since the public is going to be affected
by the receiving site increased density, this must be a con-
sultative process where neighbourhood communities are
encouraged to participate in identifying receiving areas,
areas for preservation and requirements for public ameni-
ties.
4. Development Plan
The authority shall prepare an annual TDR plan
which will identify the land use and zoning plan and should
incorporate the following:
Sending Zones: The authority shall identify areas that
will require the use of TDRs such as heritage sites, envi-
ronmental protection lands, areas that have density in ex-
cess of infrastructure & service capacity, mobility corridors
that are congested and require additional lanes, junctions
that need resolution, ßyovers or underpasses and neigh-
bourhoods in need of public amenities, etc.
Receiving Zones: The authorities shall identify areas
where growth is desirable. The authorities shall take the
following steps in identifying receiving zones
Receiving areas must be identiÞed and such that they
are areas of sufÞcient demand for growth.
The zoning must be designed such that higher density
is allowed only through the use of TDRs. Developers need
to be encouraged to buy TDRs. If the allowable density is
Banagalore
 SWATI RAMANATHAN!
already high enough in the receiving areas, the developer
has no incentive to purchase the TDRs. There must be a
clearly established proÞt-making beneÞt to the developer in
order to buy additional FAR.
Developers are given the option to develop at a lower
FAR without the TDRs or buy TDRs and build at a higher
density. However, the density bonuses must be high enough
that the developer Þnds it cheaper to buy development
rights rather than land, however, not so high that the devel-
opment overwhelms the infrastructure capacity.
3. Receiving sites must be capable of receiving
more than twice the TDRs generated by the sending sites
to reassure developers on the usability and marketability of
TDRs
4. Inter-jurisdictional exchanges can become a key
success driver and can become an instrument in enabling
the regional growth plan. For example, TDRs in Bangalore
can be utilized in Udipi with an additional increase in the
FAR allowance. The increase can be decided collabora-
tively across the State with the local development authori-
ties. A regional program will require an efÞcient balancing
between sending and receiving zones. The planning
authorities of all regional municipalities must collaborate
while designing their development plans. The Municipal
Planning Committees will require to be formed and bring
various agencies together.
Land Use: Mapping the ground realities vs. the previ-
ous Development plans will allow us to recognize land use
trends and zone realistically.
Commentary: Analyzing the areas where land use
change has been requested, as well as the shift in land use
patterns will be required in order to zone and price TDRs.
Social and economic patterns often result in mixed use and
must be accommodated in the TDR process. In fact, TDRs
can be valuable in encouraging planned development. For
example, in areas where density restrictions are placing
artiÞcial pricing barriers to housing access and economic
activity, zoning can be restructured and mixed use can take
a planned approach. TDR zoning can allow all residential
housing in neighbourhood centres additional restricted
commercial FAR through the purchase of TDRS. This
additional FAR can mandate uniform street alignment and
architectural treatment thus ensuring an attractive look and
feel. Similarly, commercial areas can be allowed additional
residential FAR to be purchased through TDRs in a man-
JANAAGRAHA!
JAN 2005
ner that controls and uniÞes building heights and the sky-
line.
5. Legal Disputes and Encumbrances
a) In the event of a particular property that has been
identiÞed for acquisition is involved in a legal dispute then
the Authority shall acquire the property and issue Devel-
opment rights certiÞcate after obtaining an order from the
Court of competent jurisdiction.
The Development rights certiÞcate shall be issued on
the date of which the property is acquired.
Commentary: In mass land acquisitions, which are
done for widening of roads, building of new infrastructure
projects, there might be pockets of property that will be
entangled with land title disputes, partition disputes or
other forms of legal disputes.
b) In the event of a particular property which has been
identiÞed for acquisition is not free from encumbrances, the
land shall vest in the authority till such time all the encum-
brances are cleared by the owner of the land.
The Development rights certiÞcate shall be issued on
the date of which all property encumbrances are cleared by
the owner of the property.
6. Development Rights CertiÞcate:
Development Rights CertiÞcate shall be issued on the
date on which the land is acquired by the authorities.
7. Protection to the seller:
In the event of a property which has been partly ac-
quired by the authorities for the purposes identiÞed in S.
14B of the Act, the seller has to be given an option either to
obtain a TDR for the entire property by forgoing it to the
authorities or to accept a TDR for the land acquired by the
authorities.
Commentary: For eg; In a property measuring 50 ft by
50 ft, the land required by the government for widening the
road is only 25 ft by 25 ft. If the Government acquires only
25ft by 25 ft, even though theoretically the other 25ft by
25ft is with the seller, the market value of that 25ft by 25ft
property is substantially reduced. Therefore we need to give
this option to the seller.
8. Lease and License:
In the event of a property that has been identiÞed to
be acquired by the authorities for the purpose mentioned in
Banagalore
 SWATI RAMANATHAN!
S. 14B of the Act; and if on such property; there is a lease
or license, then the authorities shall have to pay a compen-
sation for the development of such property to the extent of
Þfty percent of the cost of such development.
The authorities shall determine the cost of the devel-
opment of the property upon the property tax paid by the
property developer.
Commentary: There might be several properties in
which the owner of the land has leased his/her land on
which the lessee has built a building. If this has to be ac-
quired for public purpose as mentioned in S. 14B of the
Act, then if the Government issues a TDR, that will only
beneÞt the land owner and not the property owner which
has been built on that land. Therefore it is important to
compensate even the owner.
The compensation shall be determined by the amount
of property tax that has been assessed by the owner of the
property. This could act as two fold check for the Munici-
pality. Firstly it will ensure that people pay property tax and
secondly it will ensure that property owners value their
property for the purpose of paying property tax.
9. Building condition:
The authority shall approve the building plan if a
TDR is being used to build addition ßoor area ratio on an
existing building.
Commentary: This will ensure the safety of the build-
ings. In some cases, if the TDR is being used to build addi-
tional FAR on an existing building which will not be able to
take the load of additional FAR, it might raise safety con-
cerns.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)
has directed builders to reconstruct an entire building if
they want to use Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) to
increase the number of ßoors of existing buildings. In a
circular, effective June 1, 2003, the BMC has begun to give
TDR permission only to those builders who guarantee to
demolish the whole building and build a new one. We now
hear that this has subsequently been over-turned but is
causing issues of structural support extending outside the
original footprint in violation of set-backs and deteriorating
neighbourhood aesthetics.
We need to distinguish from the BMC as one of the
purposes for the issue of TDR is to build additional FAR
on existing buildings. Therefore to harmonise both the
safety and aesthetic concerns and also to grant additional
FAR, this section will act as a safety measure.
JANAAGRAHA!
JAN 2005
10. TDR Market:
The authorities shall facilitate for the growth of TDR
market. The authorities shall take the following steps to
facilitate the TDR market:
a. Identifying areas where growth is undesirable and
needs to be restricted.
b. Identifying areas of environment and ecological
concern. Identifying heritage sites and zones for preserva-
tion.
c. Assessing infrastructure capacity and growth ca-
pacity of the core city area.
d. Formulating zoning regulations and environmental
regulations restricting growth in the sending sites as well as
restrictions related to minimum infrastructure require-
ments.
e. Aid the process of estimating the buildable land
square footage / value in these sending sites that must be
compensated with TDRs
f. Re-formulate Land Use Conversion policy so that
applications are subject to far greater scrutiny on neigh-
bourhood impact and must involve local community opin-
ion.
Commentary: The ability to change Land Use with
ease is a current disincentive to TDR purchase. There is no
incentive to buy TDRs from commercial sending sites if
residential sites are cheaper and are allowed greater FAR
by easy land use conversion. Land use must be combined
with land price in assessing market value of TDRs.
Banagalore