'Sandwiched' BBMP chief Tushar Girinath makes 'unusual request' to govt over TDR rule

Bengaluru: Sandwiched between an appellate order and prevailing laws, Bengaluru’s municipal corporation has made an unusual request to the state government.

In a letter dated March 13, BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath sought an amendment to the legislation concerning the prized Transferrable Development Rights (TDR) certificates from one planning area to another planning area falling within the city limits. 

The letter came after the BBMP chief’s boss — and the appellate authority for TDR cases — issued an order “contravening” the Karnataka Town and Country Planning (KTCP) Act, 1961. 

Girinath has proposed changes to Section 14 (B) of the Act that stipulates that TDRs, issued by a planning authority, shall be utilised within the limits of the same planning authority.

Stating that the BBMP’s jurisdictional area comes under two planning authorities — Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and the Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor Planning Authority (BMICPA) — the letter says TDRs issued in one part of Bengaluru cannot be utilised in another part of the city. 

“This happens when the originating plot for which TDR is issued falls in one planning authority of the BBMP area but the TDR holder wants to utilise it in the BBMP area of another planning authority limits,” Girinath wrote.

The BBMP has now proposed a notification where TDRs issued to acquire any plot or land, which falls within the BBMP limits, can be utilised anywhere in the BBMP limits, irrespective of whether the plot falls under the BDA or BMICPA limits. 

Interestingly, Girinath’s letter to the government comes in response to a case set aside by the appellate authority — the Urban Development Department (UDD) — headed by Additional Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh after the BBMP had set it aside as illegal. 

In November 2023, Vaswani Whitefield Projects Ltd approached the BBMP to utilise 7,770 square metres (nearly two acres) of TDR certificate — issued by the BMICAPA in 2014 — in a different planning authority limits of the BBMP. 

In the same month, the BBMP’s Deputy Commissioner (Land Acquisition and TDR) Pratheek Bayal issued an endorsement, dismissing the request as being against the provisions of the KTCP Act. He also pointed out that allowing utilising TDRs in different planning authorities would lead to “irrational outcomes”. The primary one is the multiple use of the same TDR certificates in multiple planning areas. 

In February 2024, about three weeks after Bayal was transferred, the UDD wrote to Bayal’s successor Karee Gowda, informing that the BBMP’s November order against Vasvani Whitefiled Projects Pvt Ltd had been set aside.

“The chief commissioner of BBMP is directed to take necessary steps for revalidation of DRC/TDR certificate bearing number 002395 (Vasvani Whitefield Projects). The file shall be forwarded to BDA for completing the revalidation procedure and issuing utilisation certificate...,” Singh, who heads the appellate authority, wrote.

He also suggested that the BBMP chief commissioner redress such issues by bringing the BBMP jurisdiction into one local planning area.

Not convinced with the appellate authority’s order and as the TDR certificate is worth several crores, the BBMP has pushed the ball back to the UDD, by seeking change in prevailing legislation for implementing the order of the UDD.