The government is making
efforts to create awareness on sustainable development and encouraging builders
to focus on green homes. The government even tried to encourage them by
allowing extra FAR (Floor Area Ratio). Noida would have a number of green
building, had this scheme worked for the builders. It clarifies that this
incentive scheme failed to motivate builders to focus on green and sustainable
housing projects.
Not just Delhi, several
other states also tried to boost green development through different policies.
By visiting property websites of different states you can easily get
an idea of this. Till then, you can have a look at some of the incentives
provided by varied states here:
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- Developers in
Noida and Greater Noida were allowed to get free 5% additional FAR on
projects built on an area of 5,000 square meters by adhering to 4 or 5star
GRIHA Rating.
- Similarly,
Jaipur government also allowed builders to use additional 5% FAR free of
charge by obtaining 4 or 5star rating form GRIHA.
- In Maharashtra,
builders get up to 50% rebate on premium from the Pimpri-Chinchwad
Municipal Corporation by getting GRIHA certificate on their projects. They
also get 15% rebate on property tax.
- In West Bengal,
builders and developers get additional 10% FAR on green building as per
the provision under rule 69A.
Impact of these incentives
Though governments in these
cities tried hard to boost development of eco-friendly homes, these schemed
didn’t seem to work. Still, Realestate in india lacks expected
number of green projects. ‘Green floor space’ in the country accounts for just
3 to 5% of total construction, which is too low against UK where around 40%
buildings fall in green category.
Alone FAR cannot encourage
builders to increase number of green housing projects. There needs to be some
policies which are beneficial for both the homebuyers as well as builders. FAR
is beneficial only for builders, but buyers and property investors usually have
to pay more for green projects. Its cost is one of the biggest barriers in India.
Just compare prices of green residential projects on real estate
sites with normal housing projects and you will understand the
difference.
As per Raj Gala Shah,
partner at Zara Habitats states that the ideal incentive to encourage both the
developer as well as buyer should be in terms of money and time. The government
should speed up the approval process for green building to help builders save
money paid as interest and to help buyers get possession of their dream home
quickly.
