The Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation has completed hearings involving more than 88 redevelopment project holders after a re-examination found that additional floor space index may have been approved beyond permitted limits between 2022 and 2025. The municipal town planning department is now preparing a report for the municipal commissioner, while some developers have been given another five to seven days to submit documents and representations.
The review could affect projects where additional construction was approved through incentive FSI, or floor space index, a development permission mechanism that determines the amount of construction allowed on a plot. The municipal corporation has already stayed the additional construction in the projects under review, according to the report by Loksatta – Vasai-Virar.
During the hearings, officials examined the actual construction carried out at the sites, flats that had been sold and technical aspects of the project approvals. The department said that nearly 88 project holders had appeared for the hearings. Some developers requested additional time to submit documents, and the department extended the deadline by five to seven days, officials said.
The municipal corporation has also written to the district registrar asking that documents for houses and shops in the affected projects should not be registered. This step could directly affect transactions involving completed or partly completed units while the approvals are being reviewed. The report did not specify the number of homes or commercial units covered by the instruction.
The scrutiny follows a municipal re-examination of more than 80 redevelopment projects approved in Vasai-Virar between 2022 and 2025. The corporation said the review found instances where incentive FSI exceeding the prescribed limit had been approved. The municipal action has placed the projects under administrative review and created uncertainty over further construction and related property transactions.
The corporation has indicated that if errors are found in the project documents, earlier permissions could be cancelled and fresh construction permissions issued. This would create a new approval process for projects whose existing permissions are found to contain deficiencies. The report did not state whether any permission had already been cancelled.
A separate issue concerns occupancy certificates, which confirm that a building is fit for occupation under the applicable approvals. The municipal corporation has sought guidance from the Maharashtra government on whether occupancy certificates should be issued for projects affected by the incentive FSI findings. Municipal commissioner Prithviraj B. P. said the government’s decision had not yet been received.
The next formal step is the preparation of a report by the town planning department and its submission to the municipal commissioner. The report will follow the completion of the additional document-submission period and is expected to inform the administration’s decision on the redevelopment projects under review.
