Kolkata’s real estate market could benefit from vertical expansion on account of proximity to metro railway networks. Realty projects that are being developed within 1 kilometer of a metro corridor will be eligible for 20% higher floor area as compared to the floor area that was permissible earlier. An amendment has been made to the CMC (Calcutta Municipal Corporation) building regulations around 1 month earlier.
Apartment buildings that face roads with width ranging between 15 and 24 metres can get added FAR (floor area ratio) of 15% and in case of width exceeding 24 metres, the increase in FAR will be 20%. The floor area ratio is the ratio between the plot size of a building to its gross floor area. This amendment will come in handy for large scale realty projects which are located on both sides of the metro railway link between New Garia and Dum Dum along with new metro corridors which are being developed like the Joka-BBD Bagh metro network, New Garia-Airport metro line and East-West Metro network.
The CMC stands to gain higher revenues from development of added floor space since real estate developers will have to shell out extra charges for benefiting from these new regulations. Till this new regulation, only projects located within 500 metres of any metro corridor could have added floor space. This new move will boost vertical expansion of real estate although the maximum benefits will be obtained by projects which are located on big plots since there are added requirements pertaining to parking slots and open spaces.
The regulation comes amidst expectations of higher demand for real estate along these newly built metro corridors. More people will naturally prefer to shift closer to the metro networks and hence demand will go up which makes it logical to permit added floor area. Vacant plots in Madurdaha, Kalikapur, Kasba and Patuli will find more developers interested in them since they lie along the EM Bypass near the metro corridor and there are opportunities of building big ticket realty projects in these belts.
The factory shed belts along BT Road and Diamond Harbour Road will also find several takers. The plot size needs to be 20 cottahs or higher for added FAR to apply as per experts. Vertical expansion will be possible in case of big plots once the open space regulations have been adhered to. The regulations mandate 3 parking spaces for every 1, 000 sq. ft. in commercial developments and 1 parking slot for residential units which are similarly sized.
