The Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation will examine building permissions issued offline between 2022 and 2025 after its review of 88 redevelopment projects raised questions about the allegedly irregular use of additional floor space index, or FSI, in the city.
The corporation will compare its own records with projects registered with the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority to identify whether additional FSI was used in violation of applicable rules. The expanded review could increase the number of projects under scrutiny beyond the 88 redevelopment cases already identified.
The initial review covered more than 80 redevelopment projects approved between 2020 and 2025. The corporation said its re-examination had found suspected violations in the approval of additional construction area. It subsequently halted additional construction in all the projects under review and wrote to district registrars asking them not to register sale deeds for homes and shops in those developments.
The corporation has issued notices to the developers involved and begun hearings. According to the report, hearings for 88 parties have been completed so far. The cases involve projects approved during the period when the municipal corporation was under administrative rule.
The scrutiny is examining more than the documents supporting an approval. The town planning department has sought records from the architects and developers covering the period from project approval to actual construction. These include building permissions, sanctioned plans, the FSI used, the approved construction area and the construction carried out on site.
Officials are checking whether the completed structures exceed the sanctioned permissions, how much additional FSI was used and the approval basis on which that additional construction was permitted. This comparison between sanctioned plans and construction on the ground is central to determining whether the suspected violations involve paperwork, implementation or both.
The matter was also discussed at a special meeting in Mumbai chaired by Additional Chief Secretary Asim Gupta. The Urban Development Department official directed the municipal corporation to reconsider the cases individually and take appropriate decisions. He also directed that strict action be taken against developers, architects and officials found responsible for violations, according to the report.
Municipal Commissioner Prithviraj B. P. has said the corporation will now collect information on offline building permissions issued between 2022 and 2025. The records will be checked against projects registered with MahaRERA to determine whether the additional FSI was used lawfully in those cases as well.
The review places the approval chain, the accuracy of municipal records and the protection of homebuyers at the centre of the investigation. The corporation’s next steps are to compile the offline permissions, match them with municipal and MahaRERA records, complete the case-wise review and decide action in projects where irregular additional FSI use is established.
