Floor Area Ratio explained: Why does it matter as Delhi grapples with old building collapses

The recently deadly building collapse in Delhi's Satya Niketan, which killed seven people at a paying-guest accommodation, has pushed the capital's new Master Plan into the spotlight, which considers redevelopment of the old buildings with a renewed Floor Area Ratio (FSR).Floor Area Ratio is the ratio between a building's total constructed floor area, added up across every storey, and the size of the plot it stands on. Planning authorities use it to control how densely a piece of land can be built upon, and therefore how tall or bulky a building can be.For example: A 1,000-square-metre plot with an FAR of 1.5 permits 1,500 square metres of total built-up area, spread across as many floors as other rules (like height and setback norms) allow. Raise the FAR to 2.5, and the same plot suddenly supports 2,500 square metres of construction.AS per Magicbricks, most of Delhi's old buildings currently sit within an FAR of 1.2-3.5, and demolishing and rebuilding them could earn owners significantly more built-up space under the new plan.The higher FAR could give owners of aging buildings additional development potential, providing them with a financial reason to tear down old structures and rebuild them while helping offset the cost of demolition.Indian cities usually have a low FSR, compared to their global counterparts. However, this is changing.In Karnataka, for instance, the government relaxed rules so that industrial plots along roads wider than 30 metres can achieve an FAR of up to 5.2, against roughly 3.25 earlier, in a bid to allow denser, taller development where land is scarce.According to secretary at the ministry of housing and urban affairs, D Thara, the higher floor area ratio (FRA) proposed under Delhi's new Master Plan becomes significant as the historic city grapples with old buildings.Ready to Make a Smarter Property Decision? Build Your Legacy with TOI Homes.