Properties along Ghaziabad metro corridor get double FAR

The corridors located along the Metro line in Ghaziabad will now get an increased Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 66 percent from the existing 33 percent. The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has cleared the proposal on Monday.

The metro track in Ghaziabad lies between Anand Vihar to Vaishali. Along this 2.5 km-long stretch, the Authority board has doubled the FAR value, announced GDA Vice Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav. Now the owners of properties along the metro line are allowed to increase their plot coverage or develop additional floors, said GDA officials.

GDA faces shortage of funds

The civic body is currently witnessing shortage of liquidity for which it is looking for various ways to accelerate the fund flow into the system. The move of rising FAR is also one among such plans by which the GDA can benefit earning extra revenues while developers would get benefited by selling unused land. The move is expected to bring in around Rs 100 crore to Rs 150 crore revenue to the authority, said the officials.

Many more public projects in line

Apart from enhancing the FAR value of properties in metro corridors, board of the civic authority has passed 15 more proposals.

GDA had launched the metro project in 2011 and the cost spent on this project was over Rs 300 crore. After the completion of this metro project, the civic authority is busy with several other projects which would cost upto around Rs 3,000 crore.

Impact of increased FAR

The land rate along metro line is usually on the higher end compared to other areas in the city because of greater connectivity. With the government’s move to double the FAR value, more and more high-rises can be developed in the metro corridors, which would enhance the housing supply in the residential market of Ghaziabad. This would accommodate more number of people in the areas close to metro lines.

Many owners and builders in these areas would probably look to redevelop the existing projects in the upcoming years.

Will it affect the property prices?

The demand for properties along metro corridor would increase with the rise in floor area ratio, as many people would show interest in living close to metro areas. With increase in demand, the prices are likely to witness a hike compared to other areas of the city.

Other proposals of GDA

The board of GDA has approved layout plans of townships. In order to support the enforcement, the board has also permitted one more vehicle to its police staff and has altered the rule of buying the allotted staff house to its allottee.

So far, the civic body was unable to sell larger size plots for higher margins in the absence of big-ticket investors. But now, to overcome this problem, the authority has introduced a new two-bid system in its auction. Hereafter, according to this new bidding arrangement, bidders will have to first qualify in the technical bid before entering into the financial bid, explained officials. The GDA is likely to make more profit through this new bidding system.