TDR move to boost real estate in Pune

CM okays transfer of development rights for reserving BDP; move will free up 62 lakh sq ft of green TDRs, reduce property prices. The State government's move to sanction eight per cent TDRs (Transfer of Development Rights) as a compensation for reserving the Bio Diversity Park (BDP) areas will generate almost 62 lakh sq ft of green TDRs in the city. According to civic officials, this decision will not only boost the real estate sector, but also bring down the prices of properties in Pune. It will create homes for one lakh people based on the TDRs generated from the 978 hectares of the reserved BDP areas. Last week, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan took the decision to sanction the TDRs. The issue was pending for the past five years. Most of the BDP land is located on hilltops and hill slopes. Commenting on the likely impact of this decision, PMC's City Engineer Prashant Waghmare said, “It will help to boost the real estate sector in the 23 fringe villages. The additional TDRs can be used in any part of the city. It will directly affect the housing industry due to the availability of massive TDRs. We cannot tell exactly how far the rates would come down.” As per the international norms on urban development, one person needs 60 sq ft of area. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has reserved 978 hectares of land in the 23 fringe villages in the Development plan (DP) drawn for these villages. The issue of BDP was a major hurdle in sanctioning the DP of the villages, till date. Hence, the DP is likely to be approved very soon. The PMC had proposed the reservations as a part of the DP, which was sent to the state government for its approval. The 978.54- hectare reservations are spread over seven hills in 12 villages. These include 124.45 hectares of government land and 853.09 hectares of private land. Out of these, the PMC has already permitted constructions on 74 hectares. That means 780 hectares of land will be developed. This will generate 62 lakh sq ft of TDRs. According to the civic body's statistics, the city generates around 24 lakh sq ft TDRs every year on account of various reservations while around 25 lakh sq ft of TDRs are introduced in the market on account of Slum Rehabilitation Schemes (SRA) every year. That means, in all 50 lakh sq ft of TDRs is made available per year in Pune. Following this decision, an additional 62 lakh sq ft of TDRs will be available in the market in coming years, which will generate opportunities to add new homes for one lakh people in the city. Right now, there is a potential to build 5,000 hectares of residential areas in the fringe village. Out of these, only 10 per cent is developed so far. So, there is a huge scope for additional homes in these areas. Source (Siddharth Gadkari, Pune Mirror, 5 Jan 2013) : "TDR move to boost real estate in Pune."