Gurgaon developers advocate for restoring the stilt-plus-four-floors policy

The Gurgaon Home Developers Association has advocated upgrading the city's infrastructure and restoring the stilt-plus-four-floors policy. In a meeting with P Raghavendra, the chairman of the expert committee set up to look into the stilt-plus-floor issue, the developers argued that with a high demand for residential floors in the city, it is crucial to establish building criteria, environmental concerns, and other factors associated with fourth floors.

Need for establishing norms and monitoring violations

The developers stressed the need for buildings with four floors in Gurgaon. They suggested that the committee should set norms, improve infrastructure, and develop means to monitor violations rather than outlawing such structures. According to a report provided by the members, External Development Charges (EDC) were set in 2019 when registration of the fourth floor as an independent dwelling unit was allowed. Since then, the government has earned almost Rs 1,000 crore from these fees.

Association's president weighs in

Narender Yadav, the association's president, highlighted that property owners pay a fee for Floor Ratio (FAR) and EDC costs to the government for permission to develop the fourth floor. Additionally, since 2009, an extra one percent of stamp duty has been imposed for infrastructure improvement. Furthermore, huge sums are collected in the form of external development fees not used to build infrastructure or facilities.

State government to keep the policy in place

On February 22, 2023, the State government agreed to maintain the much-debated policy that allows the construction of the fourth floor in licensed colonies and HSVP sectors.

The Department of Town and Rural Planning has extended the deadline to comment on the fourth-floor issue by one week, with a new deadline of April 13, 2023. In addition, the district town planner's office has issued a directive in this respect.