In a bid to put chief minister Mayawati?s pet project, the Yamuna Expressway Development Authority, on the forefront of development, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to bring it on a par with Noida and Greater Noida by making building regulations uniform for the three development authorities. The state government has also decided to liberalise the floor area ratio (FAR) to promote vertical growth and boost industrial, housing, commercial and institutional activities in the area.
Experts say the move will project the Yamuna Expressway Development Authority as the next investment location since with the reigning hotspots in real estate like Gurgaon, Noida and Greater Noida in the National Capital Region are fast running out of land.
A UP government official told FE the move to equip all the three authorities with uniform building regulations and FAR provisions was part of the state government?s wider vision of ushering in a new wave of development in the area surrounding the national capital.
?The decision was taken in view of the steep rise in land prices and also because land availability was shrinking everyday. By raising the FAR, we want to facilitate maximum land usage by encouraging construction of multi-storeyed buildings. The only way to grow now is to go vertical,? he said, adding even old allotees can avail the benefits of this decision by purchasing the FAR.FAR is the ratio between the total covered area on all floors of all buildings on a certain plot and the total area of the plot. Thus, an increase in FAR results means increase in the number of floors or height of buildings in the area, thus promoting vertical growth.
?The impact and dynamics of the boom in the real estate sector in the region that is just waiting to happen is staggering. With cities such as Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Noida fast running out of land and having a pitiable and dwindling infrastructure as a legacy, IT and service sectors especially are clearly waiting for distinctive, planned townships to capitalise on,? said the official. ?The trickledown effect of the boom in the Greater Noida region was already visible in the adjoining areas of the Yamuna Expressway Authority. But with this order, the growth story can be encouraged to take a more vertical shape,? he added. The move would have a far-reaching impact on all the three development authorities. However, the Yamuna Expressway Authority, which has five land parcels on its 165-km stretch from Greater Noida to Agra, will benefit the most. In fact, one of the townships to come up along the expressway at Tappal had been in the eye of a storm recently due to the farmers? agitation over land acquisition, forcing the state to first scrap it and later revive it with promises of better compensation as per the new rehabilitation and resettlement policy announced in September.