After Mumbai and Navi Mumbai,the state government is set to allow an increase in the vertical limit of luxury hotels in three other cities in the state. Citing a shortage of hotel rooms and the need to promote the hospitality industry,the state government is planning to increase the Floor Space Index (FSI) for star hotels in Pune,Nagpur and Aurangabad. The FSI for star hotels in these cities would now be raised manifold to 3.5 bringing it on par with the new FSI allowed for hotels in Navi Mumbai and the suburbs of Mumbai. In South Mumbai too,recently the FSI was raised to 5,4 and 3 for five-star,four-star and three star hotels respectively. From the tourism point of view,it was felt necessary to give a boost to the acute shortage of hotel rooms in other cities in Maharashtra too, said an official from the state urban department. An increase in FSI is required in cases where land is in short supply. However,in Nagpur and Aurangabad,land is extensive so an increase in FSI is not really required. Pune,as in the case of Mumbai,will benefit from the FSI increase for hotels as this will make the projects more viable, said Akshay Kulkarni,director,South Asia for Cushman and Wakefield (Hospitality). Kulkarni added that the increase will hopefully address the dearth of hotels rooms at the right price. With the onslaught of the slump,the hotel industry in India at present is witnessing high vacancy rates. Most of this additional inventory will be released in the next two years, said Kulkarni. At present there are 74 government approved hotels in Mumbai alone with a total of 9503 rooms. Meanwhile,in another breather for the hotel industry,the state government has reduced the premium that is to be paid for the additional FSI for hotels in Mumbai. In its draft notification released in December last year,the premium to be charged for the extra FSI was in the range of 25% to 100% of the ready reckoner rates. In its final notification issued recently,the state government has brought this amount down to a flat 25% or Rs 6000 per sq mt whichever is higher. Half of this amount will go to the municipal corporation that will sanction the additional FSI after a study of the infrastructure in the area. All proposals for additional FSI for hotels in Mumbai will be scanned by a committee comprising the municipal commissioner,a representative from the MMRDA,the traffic police and tourism department each.
