Close to 160 healthcare facilities in the city are set to benefit from an FSI boost given by the state. The state urban development department has directed the municipal corporation to effect a change in development control regulations to allow private healthcare facilities in the city to expand vertically and create more infrastructure.

As per the proposal, the regulations (33(2) of the development control regulations) will be modified to ensure that private healthcare facilities in the island city can avail an additional FSI which is four times the FSI available on the plot. This will take the total consumable FSI in the island city to 5.32. On similar lines, the total FSI consumable for a private facility in the suburbs would now be 5.

The FSI perk was previously available only to healthcare facilities run by the government, semi-government and charitable institutions. Officials from the urban development department stated that after the perks were passed on to these institutions in 2005,the state began receiving proposals from other private medical institutions offering similar facilities. Reasoning that this will bring down the heavily skewed patient to bed ratio in the city, the state has extended these benefits to private institutions as well.

While a cabinet decision in this regard was taken in September this year, the state has now initiated the process of passing on the benefit, by directing the corporation to change the regulations.

The private institutions will be required to pay a premium to avail the FSI. The premium will be around 10% of the market value of the area. More so, 10% of the beds will have to be reserved to offer free-of-charge facilities to the poorer sections. The institutions will also have to ensure that weaker sections are offered out-patient facilities
at concessional rates.
Source : Central