What is FSI in real estate development? What is the floor space index that is allowed for various Indian cities? How does the FSI in India compare with some of the major metro cities of the world?

1. Floor Space Index (FSI) in Indian Cities
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Floor Space Index in Indian Cities
Floor Space Index (FSI) means the ratio of the combined gross floor (constructed) area of all floors to the gross area of the plot, namely:-
Floor Space Index (FSI) = Total covered area on all floors / Gross Plot area
Most cities of the world have a policy to increase FSI with time. This progressive increase in FSI has the following purposes:
1. It allows households and firms to consume more floor space as their income increase without having to move to new areas in the suburbs;
2. An increase in FSI contributes to a decrease in the city spatial expansion in the countryside, decreasing population dispersion, transport costs and pollution due to transport.
3. In addition, in most cities, planners practically always establish the regulated FSI at a higher level than the FSI of existing buildings. This practice encourages the redevelopment of obsolete buildings.
4. FSI is also used as an incentive for channelizing development to a specific area. For e.g. Maharashtra, in order to incentivize the development of old, dilapidated buildings in central Mumbai, has decided to grant four FSI for all integrated development projects.
5. Higher FSI may be offered for Hospitals, Hotels, IT Parks etc.
The FSI differs from city to city depending on the decisions of the concerned State governments. On an average, most Indian cities maintain the FSI between 1.33 and 3.75.
Mumbai has the lowest Floor Space Index (FSI) of 1.33 against an all-India average of 2.5 to 3. Since 1991, the prescribed floor space index for the island city been 1.33 and 1 for the suburbs (recently increased to 1.33), which is between a tenth and a fifth of values seen in other large cities in the world, according to a World Bank report. In Mumbai the regulated FSI has constantly decreased since 1964 when it was first imposed. Many buildings predate the imposition of the FSI regulations and therefore have a FSI higher than 1.33. As a consequence, any redevelopment of old buildings would entail a loss of floor space, which, given the high price of floor space in Mumbai, make any redevelopment uneconomical and relocation in situ impossible.
The Maharashtra State Government does allow higher values as exceptions, and some districts, such as Nariman Point and Ballard Estate, have higher values because they were built before the 1991 rule came into force. However, the city's average FSI is below 5, which is still very low by global standards.

2. Floor Space Index (FSI) in Indian Cities
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In Bangalore the FSI is 3.25, in Gurgaon near Delhi, the FSI is between 2.5 and 4.
In Kolkata, the floor space index (FSI), or FAR, has been low, between 1 and 1.5 in most areas. Only in certain locations has the index, calculated on the width of the access road to the plot being developed, gone up to 2.5. Even in the commercial zones in the heart of the city, the index - which is less than 1 for access roads less than 10 metres wide - is between 1.5 and 1.75. This is quite low when compared with cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, where the FSI could go up to 3.75, or Surat, where the index could almost touch 5.
Even that is low when one compares the average FSI in India with other Asian countries with a defining skyline like Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore where the index ranges between 5 and 15. Just for comparison the FSIs of the business districts of a few cities are:
 Nariman Point, Mumbai - 4.5
 Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai - 4
 Singapore's business district - 10
 New York's central business district in Manhattan - 17.
According to Bertauda, a US-based urban planning consultant with the World Bank, and most developers and builders, Mumbai's stock of housing would double if the FSI was doubled so prices would fall. Pranay Vakil, chairman of Knight Frank India, a real estate consultancy, estimated that prices of residential real estate in the island city would fall by one third in such a scenario. The State Government, however, is reluctant to raise the FSI because they believe it will lead to crowding and create an additional burden on the city's infrastructure.
It cannot be denied that a rise in FSI cannot come without a correlation with infrastructure. The concept of FSI needs to be diversified and removed from the topic of space and included in the infrastructure.
Source: National Housing Bank

3. Floor Space Index (FSI) in Indian Cities
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