Close on the heels of increasing manifold the buildable area for star hotels in Mumbai, the state government has decided to extend the largesse to hotels in Navi Mumbai also.

The state urban development department will soon issue a government resolution increasing the floor space index for all star hotels in Navi Mumbai to 3.5. This would mean a 200 per cent increase as the existing FSI is about 1 to 1.5. Developers will be allowed to build more by paying a negligible premium, which ranges from 25 per cent to 50 per cent of the ready reckoner rates.

According to officials, the decision to promote the hotel industry in Navi Mumbai was taken as the demand for hotel rooms is expected to go up once the proposed Special Economic Zone (by the Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance group) as well as Mumbai’s second international airport come up in Navi Mumbai.

“Navi Mumbai is a city with a tremendous potential for growth and this depends on the much-talked-about airport. Despite the times we find ourselves in, Navi Mumbai is poised for a meteoric rise in terms of hotel demand, the proposed SEZs and MIDC areas being the chief drivers. Since the hotel industry is capital-intensive and has large gestation periods, one way that the government can help the hoteliers is by enhancing the FSI,” said Sudhanshu Purohit, chief executive of Avinash Bhosale group. The group had recently announced its plans for constructing the first five-star hotel in Navi Mumbai on a 47,000 sq mt land bought from CIDCO at an aggressive bid of Rs 60,000 per sq mt. The initial plans to build 500 hotel rooms will now be revised to accommodate more rooms.