Floor Area Ratio in Bangalore: How FAR and FSI Shape What You Buy

Why can one tower in Bangalore reach 30 floors while the building beside it ends at four? Floor area ratio, shortened to FAR, is the main reason. It limits the total floor space a plot can hold, and it gives a buyer a way to separate sanctioned floors from added ones. The notes below explain the calculation, the source of the figure, the options that raise it, the 2025 and 2026 changes and a short list of verifications.

The Calculation

Add up the floor area of all levels that count, then divide the total by the land area. That quotient is the FAR. People also say FSI, for floor space index, and write it as a percentage; 150% is 1.5 in FAR terms.

Say a plot measures 5,000 sq ft and the FAR is 2.0. Counted floor area can then reach 10,000 sq ft. A 20,000 sq m site at 2.0 would be limited to 40,000 sq m. Rules on setbacks, ground coverage and height then decide how the floor area is piled up.

Some spaces fall outside the count, such as parking in basements or on stilts and certain services. Hence the built-up area quoted for a big project usually exceeds plot area times FAR.

Where the Figure Comes From

In city limits, rules come from the Revised Master Plan 2015 (RMP 2015) and its zonal regulations, which continue to apply. Land lying outside the planning area is covered by the master plan of the local planning authority. The permitted FAR turns on three inputs:

• The width of the road that the plot opens onto
• The area of the plot, because bigger sites move up the slabs
• The land's use zone, together with its planning ring

At the bottom, RMP 2015 gives small plots on narrow roads an ordinary housing FAR of 1.75. A site larger than 20,000 sq m reaches 3.00 where the road is 24 to 30 metres wide and 3.25 where it exceeds 30 metres. Neighbouring streets can differ greatly, so a tall building nearby is no guide to what your plot allows.

Those values only mark out the range. For any given property, the sanctioned plan carries the number that counts.

Two Ways to Build More

Developers can legally exceed the ordinary FAR by premium FAR or by TDR. In both cases the drawings must show the extra area.

Premium FAR

The planning authority sells this additional area to a developer. The RMP 2015 zonal regulations gained it on 21 February 2025. The extra area was originally tied to road width, in three steps:

• On 9 to 12 metre roads, a further 0.2 times the ordinary FAR
• 12 to 18 metre roads: 0.4 times
• Roads above 18 metres: 0.6 times

From 5 February 2026, any site on a road wider than 9 metres can claim as much as 0.6 times. The price is calculated from the land's guidance value. The extra area is tied to the site where it was granted, and the five city corporations each grant it in their own area.

Transferable development rights

An owner who gives land away for public works, usually road widening, is issued certificates called TDR. These may be loaded onto another eligible plot or sold on to a developer. A site cannot rise more than 60% above its ordinary FAR through premium FAR and TDR combined.

Applied to an ordinary FAR of 2.0, the ceiling is 3.2. Applied to 3.25, it is 5.2. A 20,000 sq m site at 2.0 could therefore hold 64,000 sq m instead of 40,000 sq m.

What Moved in 2025 and 2026

Rules have changed repeatedly, so a figure from an earlier purchase can be out of date. This is the sequence:

• February 2025: premium FAR arrives in the zonal regulations
• February 2026: the 0.6 times allowance reaches all sites on roads over 9 metres wide
• April 2026: draft bye-laws for buildings suggest allowing small FAR deviations, though never added floors
• June 2026: premium FAR notifications survive a challenge in the Karnataka High Court
• June 2026: objections are invited on draft changes to the zonal regulations

The challenge ended when a division bench threw out an appeal and two petitions on 15 June 2026, leaving premium FAR settled for the moment. The drafts dated 4 June 2026 are another matter, as they remain proposals. They would count 21 metres or more as high-rise, restrict high-rises to roads of at least 12 metres, and let owners include land surrendered free for road widening in their FAR. The final text may differ, so apply the rules that were in force when the plan was sanctioned.

Why Buyers Should Care

With a larger FAR, more households use the same lifts, parking, water and open space. It also divides land cost among more flats, which can lower the price of each. Density suits some families and not others, so more FAR is neither a plus nor a minus on its own.

The legal consequence is bigger. Any floor area beyond the approved FAR is unsanctioned, and it may stall the building's occupancy certificate. Lenders shy away from such homes, and the defect remains at resale. Under the 2026 drafts only small deviations are excused, which a whole extra floor is not.

Owners' undivided shares of land are affected too. Added floors through premium FAR or TDR divide the land among more flats, so check that the share in your sale deed tallies with the final sanctioned plan.

Verification Steps

These suit launches, resale apartments and small builder-floor buildings, and drawings plus a site visit usually suffice.

1. Request the sanctioned plan and record the authority, the plan number and the date.
2. Locate the FAR statement: plot area, FAR permitted, FAR used.
3. Count the floors standing on site and compare with the plan.
4. Enquire whether premium FAR or TDR went into the building, and get proof of payment or the certificate particulars.
5. If the project is not finished, set its Karnataka RERA registration beside the plan and compare FAR and tower heights.
6. If it is finished, the occupancy certificate is the proof that it follows the plan, so ask for it.
7. Engage an architect to measure the built area when the building seems larger than the plan.

Builders who follow the rules do not conceal sanctioned plans. If one is held back, or a floor is called pending approval, delay the purchase until the papers are in order.

Sanctioned plans and RERA entries for projects between East Bangalore and the northern suburbs are something our team studies regularly. Contact us with a project name and we will point out the documents to ask for.