FSI and FAR in Bangalore: how much a builder can build

2.16.1 What does FSI or FAR mean in real estate?

FSI, also called FAR or floor area ratio, is the ratio of a building’s total floor area to the area of its plot. Bangalore’s planning rules use the term FAR, defined in regulation 3.4 of the Revised Master Plan 2015 (RMP 2015) zoning regulations, approved by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) under G.O. No. UDD 540 BEM AA SE 2004, dated 22 June 2007. The rule says: “The ratio of the Floor area to the plot area is FAR. However, it includes escalators, open balconies, staircase and corridors.” The same regulation exempts some floor area from this count: parking space, the main staircase room, lift shafts, lift wells, lift machine rooms, ramps, and ventilation and sanitary ducts. A higher FAR lets a builder construct more floor area on the same plot, through more floors, more units, or bigger units. FAR does not set the height of the building by itself. Height follows separate setback and ground-coverage rules, which the building plan approval guide covers.

2.16.2 Who sets the FAR for a plot in Bangalore?

The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) is the planning authority that applies the FAR rules across Greater Bengaluru, using the RMP 2015 zoning regulations that the BDA framed. Section 14(2)(a) of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024 says: “the Greater Bengaluru Authority shall be the ‘Planning Authority’ as defined under the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961, for the areas comprising of the Greater Bengaluru Area.” The City Corporation Commissioner then sanctions the building plan within the FAR and other limits, a step the building plan approval guide sets out in full. RMP 2015 regulation 3.2 says that, when a road has service roads next to the main road, the authority adds both widths together to fix the FAR. Regulation 3.4(iii) says that if a plot does not face the road width stated in the table, the FAR for the road it actually faces applies. Regulation 3.4(iv) caps this the other way: if a plot faces a wider road than its size needs, the FAR stays at the limit set for that plot size, not the wider road.

Step	Who acts	Source
Set the zoning FAR tables	BDA, through RMP 2015 (State Government approval)	RMP 2015, regulation 3.4
Act as planning authority across Greater Bengaluru	Greater Bengaluru Authority	GBA Act, 2024, section 14(2)(a)
Sanction the building plan within FAR	City Corporation Commissioner	Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, section 230
File the sanctioned plan with K-RERA	Builder, at project registration	RERA Act, 2016, section 4(2)(d)

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2.16.3 How much can a builder build under the Bangalore FAR table?

In the BDA area, RMP 2015 Table 10 sets the FAR for a Residential (Main) zone plot by plot size and road width. The table, in section 4.1 Residential (Main) on pages 26 and 27 of the zoning regulations, gives five bands. A plot up to 360 sq m on a road up to 12 m gets FAR 1.75, with a maximum ground coverage of 75 percent. The FAR rises with plot size and road width, up to 3.25 for a plot above 4,000 sq m up to 20,000 sq m on a road wider than 30 m, with ground coverage capped at 50 percent. These bands apply inside the BDA’s local planning area. Sachi did not find a finalised RMP 2041 or a separate GBA building bye-law with its own FAR table as of 12 October 2026, so RMP 2015 is the rule in force.

For a larger residential development plan, on a site over 20,000 sq m, Table 20 in Chapter 7 gives a separate scale, from FAR 2.00 on a road under 12 m to higher values on wider roads. item 3 of Regulation 7.1 says FAR for such a plan is calculated on the land area left after deducting the civic amenity site.

Plot size	Road width	Maximum FAR	Maximum ground coverage
Up to 360 sq m	Up to 12.0 m	1.75	75%
Above 360 up to 1,000 sq m	Above 12.0 up to 18.0 m	2.25	65%
Above 1,000 up to 2,000 sq m	Above 18.0 up to 24.0 m	2.50	60%
Above 2,000 up to 4,000 sq m	Above 24.0 up to 30.0 m	3.00	55%
Above 4,000 up to 20,000 sq m	Above 30.0 m	3.25	50%

Source: RMP 2015, Volume III, Table 10 (FAR and Ground Coverage in Residential Main), checked 12 October 2026. A draft notification, No. UDD 338 MNJ 2026(E) of 4 June 2026, proposes to change how ducts and voids count toward FAR under regulation 3.4, and to let the authority grant FAR for the full plot including land given up for road widening. It is a draft, not yet notified as final.

2.16.4 What is TDR, and can it raise the FAR on your project’s plot?

TDR, transferable development rights, lets a landowner who gives up land for a public purpose use or sell extra floor area on another plot. RMP 2015 Chapter 10 explains the scheme. When an owner surrenders land for a road, road widening or a park, free of cost and encumbrance, to the planning or local authority, that authority issues a Development Rights Certificate (DRC) for additional floor area equal to one and a half times the area surrendered. Condition 1 under Chapter 10 ties this to Section 14(B) of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961, the provision under which the authority publishes its annual road-widening programme and grants TDR. The DRC is valid for five years, and can be revalidated for a further five years on payment of a fee. Condition 7 lets the owner use the extra floor area on the remaining land after surrender, regardless of road width. Condition 8 bars using the DRC on a receiving plot that fronts a road under 9 m, subject to a parking condition.

If a builder uses TDR to add floor area to your project’s plot, condition 9 caps how far the receiving plot’s FAR can be exceeded. On a receiving plot fronting a road of 12 m or more, the FAR can be exceeded by up to 0.60 times the existing FAR. On a road from 9 m up to 12 m, the cap is 0.40 times. RMP 2015 also allows “additional FAR” as a redevelopment incentive for amalgamated or reconstituted plots in the I and II planning rings, over and above the existing FAR, at different rates by plot size. Sachi did not find a separate “premium FAR” provision, paid in cash rather than through land surrender, in the RMP 2015 text opened for this guide.

TDR fact	Detail	Source
What the owner gives up	Land for a road, road widening or park, free of cost and encumbrance	RMP 2015, Chapter 10
What the owner gets	A Development Rights Certificate for 1.5 times the area surrendered	RMP 2015, Chapter 10
Governing provision	Section 14(B), Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961	RMP 2015, Chapter 10, condition 1
DRC validity	Five years, revalidated for five more years on fee payment	RMP 2015, Chapter 10, condition 5
FAR exceedance cap on receiving plot	0.60 times existing FAR (road 12 m+), 0.40 times (road 9 to 12 m)	RMP 2015, Chapter 10, condition 9

2.16.5 How does FAR affect you as a flat buyer?

FAR sets how much a builder can build on a plot, which drives how many flats, towers and floors share the land, the roads and the open space. Two projects on plots of the same size, but with different FAR, can carry very different numbers of homes and different crowding at the lifts, gates and amenities. FAR also connects to your undivided share of land (UDS), which is usually your flat’s share of the plot area, not of the built-up area. Example (Sachi arithmetic, not a real project): a 4,000 sq m plot at FAR 3.00 permits up to 12,000 sq m of counted floor area. If 100 equal flats share that plot, each flat’s notional land share is 4,000 sq m divided by 100 flats, or 40 sq m, before accounting for common areas. At FAR 1.75 on the same 4,000 sq m plot, only 7,000 sq m of floor area is permitted, so the project is likely to carry fewer flats; with only 60 flats, for example, each flat’s land share rises to about 67 sq m.

To check this on your own project:

1. Get the plot area, road width and FAR band (Table 10 or Table 20) from the sanctioned plan or K-RERA filing.
2. Get the total built-up area from the plan’s area statement.
3. Get the number of flats from the K-RERA filing under Section 4(2)(h).
4. Check your UDS in the agreement for sale and the conveyance deed. It falls as more flats share the same plot and FAR.

2.16.6 How do you read FAR from the sanctioned plan and the K-RERA filing?

Check the sanctioned master plan and the K-RERA filing together, because neither one alone gives the full FAR picture. Section 4(2)(d) of the RERA Act, 2016 requires the builder to file the sanctioned plan, layout plan and specifications with K-RERA. Section 11(3)(a) requires the builder to make these plans available to you at booking. On the project’s K-RERA page, open the Uploaded Documents tab and find the approved plan and its area statement. The area statement should show the plot area, the total built-up area counted for FAR, and the FAR the plan uses. Compare this against the FAR limit for that plot size and road width in Table 10, or Table 20 for a plan over 20,000 sq m. If the filing or the plan is silent on FAR, or you cannot work out the achieved FAR from the numbers given, ask the builder in writing for the sanction order, which states the approved FAR.

1. Get the plot area and the road width from the sanctioned plan or the K-RERA filing.
2. Look up the matching FAR limit in Table 10, or Table 20 if the plot is over 20,000 sq m.
3. Compare that limit with the built-up area and FAR stated in the sanctioned plan’s area statement.
4. Ask the builder in writing if any part of the built area comes from TDR, and ask for the DRC.
5. Note the FAR and area figures in the agreement for sale and the conveyance deed.

2.16.7 What are the red flags on FAR?

The main red flag is a built-up area larger than what the sanctioned plan and the applicable FAR allow. If the area statement does not match the FAR limit for the plot’s size and road width, ask the builder to explain the gap in writing, and check whether a DRC or an additional-FAR provision accounts for it. A second red flag is extra floors or flats added to the plan after you book, without your knowledge. Section 14(2) of the RERA Act, 2016 limits this: clause (i) needs your consent for a change to your own flat, and clause (ii) needs the written consent of at least two-thirds of the allottees in that building for any other change to the sanctioned plans or common areas. Ask the builder and check the K-RERA project page for any notice of a plan change filed after registration. A third red flag is a brochure that states a FAR or floor count the sanctioned plan does not confirm.

Red flag	What to ask the builder
Built-up area above the applicable FAR limit	Show the sanction order and the approved FAR
New floors or flats added after your booking	Show the two-thirds allottee consent, under section 14(2)(ii)
Brochure FAR or floor count differs from the sanctioned plan	Show the sanctioned plan’s area statement
Built area that depends on TDR	Show the Development Rights Certificate

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2.16.8 Does FAR matter if you are buying a resale flat?

Yes, in one respect. A resale flat sits in a building that was built to a fixed FAR, so the density, the UDS and the common areas you are buying into were set at construction, not now. Check the same sanctioned plan and area statement that a new-flat buyer would check, since FAR was not just a plan at booking, it is now the actual building around you. Ask the seller or the association for the sanctioned plan and the occupancy certificate, and compare the built-up area with the FAR table for the plot’s size and road width. A gap between the two can point to an unapproved extra floor or an unreported change. A full guide for resale buyers is coming soon. For a new flat, confirm the FAR and the area statement before you book, since those numbers decide how many neighbours, how much open space and how large your undivided share of land will be.